WHAT MAKES US SPECIAL

“If aliens ever land on Earth and rightfully decide to put an end to these cruel naked apes here, there will only be two things stopping them: the compositions of Bach and Beethoven.” I read this and had to laugh.

And yet: As the economically strongest nation in the heart of Europe, Germany is also a pillar of its cultural identity. Our cultural history, the creative spirit of composers, poets, thinkers, and engineers could be the bond that holds Europe together. The time has come to honestly answer some fundamental questions:
What do we stand for? What defines us? Why is it so important that we rediscover our self-confidence?

We have 10 years of naively disastrous migration policies behind us. Immigration into the social systems, social welfare measures en masse, and three years of recession: This cannot work. Not only have we completely overstretched ourselves, but the “open to all” approach has also made Germany small. Too many young men hoping for a better life here also bring with them completely different, culturally and religiously influenced views on women, religion, and personal freedom.

When we offered protection, there was no manual “What Germany Now Demands of You” or anything similar. Instead, there were mass accommodations with all-round care, but no work. For some, this was a perfect opportunity for bad behavior or criminal behavior. No wonder we were repeatedly perceived as simple-minded and weak, and our hospitality was abused.

“We’re given people as a gift,” some rejoiced in 2015, “anti-Semites,” thought others, who hadn’t previously been asked whether they even approved of immigration on this scale. Not everyone wants a society of enforced solidarity, imposed on them by their diverse members, which they have to help feed with hard work, and therefore, if they feel unheard for a long time, they now vote for the AfD.

But there’s a firewall in front of this sulfur party, and every day I hear the hysteria in the politicians’ statements. The hype now serves less the good cause than the outraged voters’ own retention of power. Not very smart to tell the 10 million AfD voters that they’re Nazis. The risk is that they’ll eventually believe it and end up thinking, the Nazis weren’t so bad after all. We know they were.

Eighty years after the end of the war, there are virtually no personally guilty people left. What remains is a great responsibility, and that’s a good thing. But what also remains is the longing of many people for home, for security, and for identity, regardless of that many immigrants have “arrived” in the best sense of the word in recent years. Good, hardworking people, irreplaceable in some industries, identify with our values. We can be both grateful and proud for this, because we made this possible.

This is a good time to end our own denigration. And to raise more children with a greater love of German culture – otherwise, we face a future in which Goethe, Heine, or Kafka exist only in history books. Then “St. Matthew Passion” and “Ode to Joy” would no longer resound in the Berlin Cathedral, the Dresden Frauenkirche, or the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig; the universe would have two fewer great voices illuminating it.

Confidently preserving one’s own culture – I don’t know of any country that would want to do it differently. And without a self-confident Germany, Europe would probably be lost.

In this spirit

Ernst-M. Ehrenkönig · CEO & Managing Partner