“Big tattoo” for Angela Merkel
More than ten million watched
Chancellor Angela Merkel (center) at the “Great Zapfenstreich”.
© imago / Emmanuele Contini
More than ten million people tuned into the “Big Zapfenstreich” for Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday evening.
The “Big Zapfenstreich”, with which Chancellor Angela Merkel (67) was retired from office on Thursday evening in Berlin, attracted a total of more than ten million people in front of the screens. 9.04 million viewers tuned into the broadcast on ZDF. At Phoenix there were a further 440,000 people and at the news channels Welt and n-tv around 375,000 each.
“DWDL” sees the outgoing Chancellor’s “somewhat surprising selection of music” at the military ceremony as one of the reasons for the great interest in the live broadcast. Before the hymn “Great God, we praise you”, the staff music corps played “You forgot the color film” by punk singer Nina Hagen (66) and “For me it should rain red roses” by Hildegard Knef (1925-2002).
Reactions from prominent viewers
“It is an honor for Hilde and also for me that Ms. Merkel wished for the ‘red roses’. I am also proud that my wife’s work is valued to this day,” said Knef’s widower Paul von Schell (81). in the “Bild” interview via the music selection. When asked about a parallel between Merkel and Knef, von Schell said: “Both have strong opinions. They are unadjusted and timeless, ageless and without an expiration date. You will be a role model in every era.”
Not only the man who was married to the singer from 1977 until her death, but also many celebrities watched the ceremony in front of the screens. Among other things, actress Katja Riemann (58) commented on the top politician’s departure from her position on Instagram: “I thank you from the bottom of my heart, dear Angela Merkel, even if I did not vote for your party, for 16 years of peace, for not saying bad words, for saying ‘We can do it’. You have achieved a lot.” And she shoved afterwards: “Now we go on. We need a health minister, people.”
Tokio Hotel singer Bill Kaulitz (32) posted a screenshot of Merkel’s speech at the “Great Zapfenstreich” and did the post in his Insta-Stories with a crying emoji and a broken red heart.