Welcome
Speech by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at the presentation of the German Dream Award
Translation of the German speech
On the 50th anniversary of our Basic Law, then Federal President Roman Herzog said something which I think about often these days:
“We can only be free together.”
Although he said that a quarter of a century ago, it is perhaps more relevant now than ever before. It seems very relevant today, at a time when – as we heard in the introduction – it sometimes appears difficult to talk at all about common ground, about cohesion.
At the close of a year which began with reports of Nazi meetings in Potsdam, where I live.
After record results for a right-wing extremist party at three regional parliament elections in September.
After 14 months of a war waged with the utmost brutality in the Middle East – and the debates about it here in Germany, which seem to be ever more bitter and uncompromising.
And yes, at the close of a legislative term which is ending prematurely because we, the governing parties, could evidently no longer find common ground in crucial matters.
The opposite of common ground – division – sometimes appears to be the modus operandi of our time.
Political players at home and abroad want to convince us that we have to take sides: immigrants versus those who have always lived here, young versus old, east versus west, Muslims versus Jews.
They talk of black and white, “either/or” decisions where there are actually none: social security or external security. Peace or pensions.
I’m grateful to have this opportunity to speak to you this evening because as we’ve already heard and seen in the introductory film: German Dream was established out of the conviction that this “either/or” is undoubtedly the wrong question.
Out of the conviction that what matters to the vast majority of people in this wonderful country is not what divides us but what brings us together, what we have in common. Those who want to divide are simply five times as loud. What we have in common, namely our values, our Basic Law – which we have been celebrating this year – our freedom, our democracy, didn’t come about overnight. They are precious and cannot be taken for granted. And they are – as we’re currently witnessing – fragile.
In today’s Germany, those whose families haven’t lived here for generations are the very ones who remind us of that. We’ve just heard a lovely account from Khesrau of what your family, the Behroz family, has achieved. You who, like so many people in our country, were forced to come here due to persecution, due to the lack of freedom and opportunities. The fact that you and future generations remind us time and again how grateful we should be for what we have is a gift for us. And that’s exactly what German Dream stands for: gratitude for living in peace and freedom, which didn’t come about overnight but is our most precious common good.
German Dream also reminds us that we need places and people to protect our democracy and our freedom and to inject life into them – every single day. People who, despite polemical talk and attempts to divide us, don’t adopt such a tone and, instead, stand up for positive solidarity. People who celebrate democracy. Especially when we want to protect things because we know how precious they are, we have to celebrate life. And that’s precisely what the enemies of democracy want to take away from all of us democrats: the joy we take in life, in democracy.
For that very reason, we must not lose sight at this difficult time of everything that is positive, everything we have achieved together as democrats in the last few years.
We have, and I’m sure that everyone has 20 anecdotes about this, overcome a once‑in‑a-lifetime pandemic together by demonstrating solidarity.
When the Russian President attacked our peace and our freedom in Europe, we as democratic parties overcame decades-long political differences, which have always existed in Europe, and noticed that they were actually quite small. What’s more, our society gave refuge to a million Ukrainians, above all to their children.
And after the Potsdam revelations, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. All over Germany – including in small towns in the east. They were demonstrating for a society which recognises that it simply can’t survive without those with a migrant background.
And in the wider world, too, as difficult as it seems despite these wars, we as an international community – more than 140 states –have managed to unite on repeated occasions for the United Nations Charter and against Russia's war of aggression. And now, at the International Climate Change Conference that has just ended, more than 160 states made it clear that we only have this one Earth and that we can only preserve it together.
However – and this is just as true in foreign policy as it is on a smaller scale or here at German Dream – that’s no coincidence. Rather, it’s down to hard work. Even if this work is also often fun.
As President Herzog knew more than a quarter of a century ago: “If individuals make no contribution, no community can function in the long run.”
Each and every individual has a responsibility. After all, our democratic society is not created by politicians alone, the government – no matter how united – or the Bundestag parties. Rather, it’s upheld by the heroes of a democratic society. We’re honouring some of them this evening, individuals who are representative of many thousands more.
What does a democratic society need to ensure that everyone has a chance? To ensure that it holds together.
You only have to look at this evening’s programme. The German Dream categories demonstrate very clearly that we need role models. Being a role model sounds pretty wonderful and easy. But I believe that the awardees in particular know that it’s sometimes not at all easy to play this part.
Hillary Clinton often cited an English saying that I find important to remind ourselves of time and again: “If you can see it, you can be it.” Every opportunity to step into the spotlight is always also an opportunity for others. It lets them know that they, too, could be standing there one day. Regardless of whether we call those people a role model, or the first of his or her kind. What matters is that they can inspire or empower others.
I want to point out that if you’re a role model you receive awards, you’re applauded. However, being a role model in everyday life also requires courage. Especially when you’re not protected by bodyguards around the clock. You need courage to stand up against neo‑Nazi structures in towns and cities around our country where you perhaps only have a few others at your side but otherwise stand pretty much alone in the market square. You need courage to keep on standing up even though you know that you could be putting your own family at risk.
And we know, especially at present, that this hatred is largely directed against women. I, too, would therefore like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Tekkal sisters, who are representing German Dream on stage, as well as also those doing all the work in the background. I would like to thank Tugba Tekkal because I feel very passionate about the Scoring Girls project. Thank you for your courage, for your commitment. With this German Dream initiative, you confront hatred time and again and demonstrate through your sisterhood that community is your strength. And that makes you invincible.
Just as we need role models, we also need bridge-builders, and that is the second category this evening. Especially at a time of division, of “either/or”, in which it would be so easy to stay in our own echo chamber, in our own social media community or amongst friends. In the face of the suffering in the Middle East, some people want to convince us – both internationally and here in Germany – that we simply have to decide. They want to convince us that we have to decide between the suffering of a Palestinian mother grieving for her child and the suffering of an Israeli father whose son has been held captive in the Gaza Strip for the last 14 months.
However, as a relative of one of the hostages has so aptly said: “in a competition of pain, there are no winners”. If the mother of a murdered hostage can say that in her darkest hour, then we should be able to say it together time and again. Especially as those who are not suffering personal heartbreak at this moment, we must keep on summoning this very strength of community.
We can only progress if we’re prepared – especially in the face of the deepest pain – to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, to listen, to see the other person’s suffering and to remember that humanity is and remains indivisible.
For that reason, this category is perhaps especially important – even though, of course, we should never single one out. It is this category and what the Ambassadors of Values, as we’ve just heard, do every other day at two schools – more than one thousand people who go into our schools together to promote respectful dialogue, for example between Jewish and Muslim pupils. But not just between Jewish and Muslim pupils, of course, because this hatred, this division, can be found in all sections of our society.
And yes, in our schools of all places. Because as much as I love talking about how wonderful our country is, education remains the biggest problem area in our country. Although we’re one of the richest countries in the world, what kind of educational opportunities you have depends on your family background. Especially when German is not the native language spoken at home or there are no resources to support children, the chances are even fewer. Because education isn’t always the top priority.
I believe that you as Ambassadors of Values and those politicians that go into schools are often confronted with a reality check when we see that fake news is in circulation there on a massive scale. We meet teachers who say that they need support, they need resources to tackle this challenge together. And the fact that, as I said, we’re one of the richest countries but are not able to address this shows us how many problems we still have to grapple with. When a 12‑year‑old wants to talk about the Holocaust but, unfortunately, the topic currently being dealt with in history lessons is the Roman Empire. Because we still have a system where we start way back in the Stone Age and – due to lessons being cancelled – sometimes don’t even get as far as the most important topics.
That your work, your education initiative, tackle this very problem is invaluable. German Dream provides what so many teachers actually want from politicians, namely they want bridge-builders to act as ambassadors for democracy and cohesion whenever there is a need for debate. I would therefore not only like to thank you for honouring this category this evening and thus the wonderful people who have taken on the role of bridge-builders. I would also like to thank all Ambassadors of Values. You are an integral part of the backbone of our learning society.
The third category this evening is German Dreamer. What a lovely name. And no, I haven’t yet given up my hope and aspiration that decency will be the order of the day during this election campaign. German Dreamer should be written at the top of all election posters in the coming three months. Because what a wonderful aspiration it is for us all to persevere with our dream of making things better, especially in difficult times. And that definitely doesn’t mean being naive. Rather, it means thinking about tomorrow – in the best possible way. That’s what being a German Dreamer is all about.
Every one of us in this country should actually be a German Dreamer. And we have great role models with us this evening. They show us, for instance, how to use the most disarming weapon of all to tackle everyday racism and discrimination in our country – humour and comedy!
There’s not just one German Dreamer but millions in our country. Individuals who demonstrate not in spite of but because of their physical limitations that whatever we achieve always shows how strong a society is. When it celebrates this diversity and makes it clear that our German Dream is vibrant rather than grey and monotone.
We need these millions of German Dreamers, these everyday heroes. They show what Germany can achieve. These are the people who get up in the morning and take the bus even though they could complain fifty times over that we have been promised better public transport.
They are the relatives caring for their parents on top of working and looking after their children.
They are the people who teach our children and keep our infrastructure running. Even though we have countless constructions sites. They are the people who don’t differentiate between those born here and those born elsewhere. Between men and women. Whether people approve of this or that.
They simply do their jobs because they know that our society is only strong when we work together. They show what really holds us together: not German Angst but our German Dream. United in freedom.