German Gov't-Ordered Protests 'Against the Right' Reveal 'True' Colours

Unsurprisingly, Young Socialists neither like the national anthem nor 'their' (?) country

Now this happened: at a gov’t-sponsored protest ‘against the right’ (orig. Gegen Rechts), hundreds of thousands of people poured onto German streets last weekend.

Unlike the larger (?) farmers’ protests, however, these pro-gov’t ‘protests’ (sic) were covered widely by legacy media, which often ‘interviewed’ their own ‘journos’ who ‘happened’ to be found among the protesters. I’m sure this is coincidence, or the ‘climate crisis™’, or the like (/sarcasm). This has been covered in-depth by the invaluable Twitter user(s) of ‘ÖRR Blog’.

While these shenanigans reek of totalitarian régimes, past and present, one of the core themes of these ‘protests’ is their anti-German bias.

Wave a rainbow flag, cuss ‘da Nazis’, or be ‘pro migration’, you’re in.

Point to, say, ‘black-red-gold’ (Germany’s flag) or reference the national (!) anthem, you get heckled, defamed, and dragged off the stage. True story. I read it first over at Boris Reitschuster’s equally invaluable alt-news site (here), whose take-away is this (as always, here and in the following, my translation and emphases, as are the bottom lines):

The scenes that took place on stage at the ‘Defend Democracy’ protest in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern town of Stralsund on Friday [19 Jan. 2024] are unimaginable. If there were no authentic video footage, you would probably think it was ‘fake news’—at least until you realise that hatred of your own country and of democracy as it used to exist in this country is widespread, even in red-green circles [dear Boris, if you read this, you’re too kind: the word ‘even’ should, in my opinion, be replaced with ‘especially’].

A teacher standing on the stage called out to the audience that he was happy about the event, but that he was missing the ‘black-red-gold’ flag among all the flags at the rally (for any red-green radicals reading along—these are the national colours of our country).

The man continued: ‘Perhaps we could have sung a different song. The song goes something like this: Unity and justice and freedom. You know it: unity and justice and freedom are the security of happiness.’

Perhaps they should have sung this song, too, but they didn’t. Here’s what happened instead:

Here’s how Mr. Reitschuster continues his piece:

At this point, very loud displeasure is heard from the ranks of the demonstrators and he is booed.

The teacher continues: ‘And perhaps we should take that seriously. And we need a lot in Germany as a whole. But what we don't need in Germany is...’

At this moment, the organiser Tobias Ewert, a burly man and member of the Young Socialists in the SPD who is on stage with him—a steward or the organiser—comes up to him and snatches the microphone out of his hand.

Angry cries of protest can be heard. One sounds like ‘Fuck Germany’ and ‘Nazis out’.

Organiser Tobias Ewert says to the teacher: ‘You leave the stage right now.’ The teacher wants to take the microphone back, but the man doesn't give it to him. Ewert says: ‘Get off the stage.’

The teacher talks at him—it is impossible to understand what he is saying without the microphone. A brief scuffle ensues. Organiser Ewert says into the microphone: ‘I'm amazed. I think enough has been said. We'll carry on.’

Organiser Ewert then begins to sing: ‘Fight back, resist fascism, here in this country! To the barricades!’

At this point, Mr. Reitschuster notes the national blackout in terms of legacy media coverage and points to a local newspaper, Ostsee Zeitung, whose journalists covered the event. Unfortunately, Mr. Reitschuster mentions the article is behind a paywall, hence I shall reproduce it here in its entirety, courtesy of the Internet Archive (here).

---

Stralsund Teacher Causes Incident at Protest: This is What he Has to Say

There was an incident at the demonstration against racism on the Alter Markt in Stralsund on Friday. A man who is a teacher at a school in Stralsund apparently wanted to get a message across—but ended up being led off the stage by the police. A video shows the scene [this is the video I embedded above].

By Philipp Schulz, Ostsee Zeitung, 22 Jan. 2024 [source]

At least 1,000 people came to the Alter Markt late on Friday afternoon, where they wanted to set an example against racism and right-wing politics. There was a brief incident at the very end. Although no open microphone—where participants in the rally can say something if they want to—was planned, a teacher from Stralsund took the floor. A video of this scene is already doing the rounds in Stralsund.

He explained that he was happy about the event, but would have liked to see black, red, and gold flags and would be happy if the national anthem could still be sung. He was then booed and organiser Tobias Ewert wrestled the microphone away from him [the account provided by Mr. Reitschuster is correct].

After a brief scuffle, the man was removed from the stage by police—the situation was over. Since then, many videos of the situation have been circulating and there has been much discussion on Facebook about what happened and whether a Stralsund man should be silenced. But what do the people involved say?

‘I wanted to de-escalate the situation’

The Ostsee Zeitung was able to speak to both people. Tobias Ewert, a Young Socialist and organiser of the demonstration, explained that it was certainly unfortunate. ‘An open microphone wasn't planned and I shouldn't have allowed it, especially at the end of the event. But he really wanted to speak.’ But there are also rules that the organiser lays down [no better way to direct the protest, esp. if, as Mr. Ewert is, the protest organiser is a member of the government party SPD].

What happened afterwards, however, was not meant to be a muzzle from Ewert's point of view, but protection. ‘A man stood in front of the stage and shouted at the speaker. I'm glad it didn't escalate any further. I wanted to take the microphone away from him and de-escalate the situation.’ This is also how the police described it. Several officers intervened and escorted the man off the stage. The teacher was ‘not authorised as a speaker by the meeting leader due to verbal disruptions and was excluded from the meeting’, explained the police when asked [I do see the point here, technically speaking, but a a notionally pro-gov’t protest that doesn’t want to hear or sing the national anthem?]

Another attempt at the next demonstration?

For Ewert, the matter is settled. ‘He also contacted me ten minutes after the event and we were able to resolve the matter. We will be holding another protest on the Alter Markt on 30 January. If it's agreed beforehand, he's welcome to talk again.’ [see, all one has to do to be permitted to speak at such rallies is to clear what is to be said beforehand, it would seem]

The man himself—who wishes to remain anonymous and also explains that he wanted to speak as a private individual—also explained the evening from his perspective to the Ostsee Zeitung: ‘I wanted to speak in the spirit of the event. It was spontaneous and I just felt the need to say something.’ He would rather leave what was said as it was and not comment further. Just this much: ‘We should listen to each other.’

---

Bottom Lines

Note that the Young Socialist didn’t reference he was speaking on his behalf or on behalf of the governing party, SPD. Therefore, it is safe to assume that Mr. Ewert was parroting government lines here.

The absence of German flags is particularly noteworthy from these ‘anti-right’ protests all over Germany.

This aversion of socialists, social-democrats, Greens, and their ilk towards the national colours and anthem is particularly telling, esp. since the author of the ‘Song of the Germans’, Hoffmann von Fallersleben, wrote them in the first half of the 19th century.

It is one of the most recognisable pieces in German Europe: originally composed by Joseph Haydn for Emperor Francis II (of the Holy Roman Empire, no less) in 1797 to provide a patriotic rallying cry against Napoleon, Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote a few more generic lines in 1841.

That temporal context is crucial, for these lines were written during the so-called Rhine Crisis (in which France claimed the Rhine—incl. the German-speaking left bank of the Rhine—as its ‘historical border). The ‘Song of the Germans’ was written as a patriotic appeal to all German-speakings, incl. those in the Austrian Empire, hence the first stanza that indicates where German-speakers lived back then:

Germany, Germany above all
Above all in the world
When it always, for protection and defence
Brotherly stands together.
From the Meuse to the Neman
From the Adige to the Little Belt,
𝄆 Germany, Germany above all
Above all in the world. 𝄇

German women, German loyalty,
German wine and German song,
Shall retain, throughout the world,
Their old respected fame,
To inspire us to noble deeds
For the length of our lives.
𝄆 German women, German fidelity,
German wine and German song. 𝄇

Unity and Justice and Freedom
For the German Fatherland!
After these let us all strive
Brotherly with heart and hand!
Unity and Justice and Freedom
Are the security of happiness –
𝄆 Bloom in the splendour of this happiness,
Bloom, German Fatherland! 𝄇

Yes, both the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany used the first stanza as national anthems, but let’s not get bogged down here. (Note, as an aside, that the second stanza tells you a lot about German culture in the 19th century.)

As regards the third stanza, it has been the national anthem of resurrected (West) Germany after 1949. It speaks about the core demands of bourgeois liberalism in the 19th century and, arguably, ever since:

‘Unity and justice and freedom’ as ‘the security of happiness’ are noteworthy and laudable aims, esp. in consideration of the circumstances they were written in: there was no constitutional governance in Central Europe, and these words are an expression of the demands of bourgeois liberals all over Europe.

There is, in other words, nothing wrong with singing them, a patriotism that is grounded in bourgeois-liberal values, or their celebration as ‘the security of happiness’.

Coda: Unity and Justice and Freedom!

Those who oppose these sentiments, however, are revealed as the true revolutionaries of our times, for it is them who clearly oppose ‘unity and justice and freedom’.

We also note that Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote these—beautiful, in my opinion—lines at a time when neither (German) unity nor justice (rule of law) or (constitutional guarantees for) freedom existed.

In other words, unity and justice and freedom were the hopes and aspirations of a people yearning to be just that.

And this context, I’ll invite you to join me, singing, if you will, for…

After these let us all strive
Brotherly with heart and hand!