German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has warned that Germany’s democracy is once again being challenged.
The 70-year-old used his final German Unity Day speech as president to reflect on more than three decades of political change.
“I thought everyone had learned the lesson from history, and now I see supporters of right-wing extremism seeking to erase the memory of the victims of the Holocaust,” Steinmeier said at the official ceremony in Bremen.
“I believed our democracy was secure and now have to experience it being challenged anew.”
Steinmeier, whose second and final term as president ends in March, said his expectations after the changes that began in 1989 had been greater than what ultimately became reality.
Those expectations had included greater progress for liberal democracy and for “the undeniable reason of international cooperation,” he said, acknowledging that there had been “bitter setbacks.”
Looking ahead to his successor, Steinmeier warned that the presidency was “not an office to be taken lightly.”
He said promoting social cohesion and preserving the country’s unity would become more demanding in the coming years.
The official German Unity Day celebrations began earlier Saturday with an ecumenical service at Bremen’s St. Peter’s Cathedral attended by Steinmeier, Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other senior officials.
More than 550 events are being held in Bremen through Sunday to mark the 36th anniversary of German reunification. The celebrations rotate between Germany’s 16 states and are hosted by the state currently holding the presidency of the Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament. Bremen currently holds the presidency.