I’m just as little enthusiastic about the election campaign as I am about the different types that are available at the top of the parties. That is why in the last few days I have often thought back to my first consciously experienced federal election campaign 45 years ago.
From Frank Behrendt
Late summer 1976. I was 13 years old and the general election campaign was going on. There were posters everywhere on the main street in the tranquil town of Otterndorf on the North Sea coast. On one, right across from Café Brüning, under a dynamic black, red and gold flag of Germany, a determined Helmut Schmidt looked me straight in the eye.
Today I no longer have the exact slogan in my head, but of course Google helps with this question in a matter of seconds: “Increase the benefit of our people, turn away harm from them and ensure freedom and justice. We will continue to work for that.” Including the curved, blue handwritten signature of the Federal Chancellor, who has been in office since 1974.
“Schmidt-Schnauze”, as the smart SPD politician was often jokingly called because of his eloquence, made a visual impression. He had almost a movie star aura with the neat parting, the silver streaks in his hair and the distinctive features. But the man didn’t just look good on posters, he was also solid when it came down to it. In 1962 Hamburg was threatened by a flood of the century, 315 people were killed at the time. Helmut Schmidt was the Senator for the Interior in the Hanseatic city and coordinated the large-scale deployment of the rescue workers.
“You could send it”
While nowadays the responsible politicians are often accused of hesitation and hesitation in a comparable crisis, not to mention improper laughter in the disaster area, the passionate sailor Schmidt acted consistently. He did not care about formalities, but even called on the Bundeswehr, although it was against the constitution at the time that armed forces were used for civilian tasks in the country. His exemplary work in the year before I was born made a big impression on my parents. From then on, not only for them did he enjoy heroic status as a type and “doer”.
Even later he had to steer the country through times of crisis. In 1977 the terror of the “Red Army Fraction” (RAF) shook Germany, there was hardly an issue of the “Tagesschau” in which this terrible topic did not appear. I remember the pictures of the hijacked Lufthansa plane “Landshut”. The airline with the crane in its logo, which our family had safely and reliably flown to our temporary new home in Brazil and back to Frankfurt years earlier, was suddenly in the crosshairs of terrorists.
Helmut Schmidt orders the storming of the jet in Mogadishu in October 1977. The special task force “GSG 9” freed the hostages, three of the four kidnappers were shot, the RAF heads Ensslin, Baader and Raspe then committed suicide in their prison cells. Those were terrible days, which were a difficult test for the Federal Chancellor at the time. The passionate chess player Schmidt analyzed the situation, considered it and acted decisively. His straightforwardness, his consistency and his leadership skills made a lasting impression on me.
When an exchange with a French partner school was agreed during my school days, I experienced first hand how our first man in the state enjoyed the utmost respect abroad, as Helmut Schmidt had close contact with the French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. The two initiated the world economic summit, from which the later G8 meetings emerged. I have always admired the statesmanship of our former Chancellor all over the world. “You could send him,” commented my uncle Friedemann at the time.
The special factor: format
I’m being completely honest: I am currently missing a guy like Helmut Schmidt, who would also like to be featured in a female edition, on the ballot paper, regardless of which of the relevant democratic parties he or she would run for. My aim is not to deny the suitability of the existing candidates. Like all of us, they have their individual strengths and weaknesses. For me, however, a special factor is a crucial indicator of optimal suitability in the Chancellery: format.
About “having format” is written in the esteemed Duden: “Strongly developed personality, exceptional rank based on personality, significant abilities, etc.” – All of this undoubtedly applied to the eloquent native of Hamburg with the common surname Schmidt. If I currently hear or read that many German citizens do not really know which party to vote for, then in my opinion it has to do with the fact that all three candidates are missing something to fully fill out the top office: That special something, the cosmopolitan, the maximally trustworthy, the angular and clear.
The election this year is particularly difficult for me too, but as a staunch democrat I am of course making use of our constitutional right to vote and hope that as many fellow citizens as possible do the same. When I was in my old home in the far north a few days ago, the election posters were again hanging on the main street, also in front of the venerable Café Brüning. If I now look at them again in the inside rearview mirror, I only see Helmut Schmidt in all of them.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
