Debate about national anthem: Linnemann rejects Ramelow’s hymn proposal

CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann has sharply criticized the proposal of Bundestag Vice President Bodo Ramelow to coordinate the national anthem. “Our flag and our hymn stand for our democracy, our fundamental rights and our rule of law. Those who are alien to it has a problem with the free-democratic basic order of our country,” said Linnemann of the “Rheinische Post” (Saturday).

The left-wing politician Ramelow had previously spoken out in the “Rheinische Post” to coordinate the German national anthem. He would “like to put the children’s anthem of Bertolt Brecht to vote”. “The children’s anthem has a wonderful text. About the passage that a better Germany blooms, we could find access to an overall German anthem that we could all sing together with joy.”

Linnemann said with a view to this proposal: “Bodo Ramelow is looking for the cultural struggle and is of all plans for our Basic Law.” Ramelow had previously emphasized: “I sing the third stanza of our current hymn with enthusiasm because I can classify it.” But he knows many East Germans who do not sing the national anthem for many reasons.

Proposal from the turning time

It is not the first time that Thuringia’s former prime minister is arising from a debate about the national anthem. Among other things, he had already made this proposal in 2019. The then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) did not conclude the demand. “The Chancellor finds our national anthem very nice, in music and text,” said government spokesman Steffen Seibert.

The national anthem is the third stanza of the “song of the Germans” by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (“Unity and Law and Freedom”). At the turn, there was a proposal to choose the “children’s anthem” by Bertolt Brecht as a national anthem for reunited Germany.