Military remembrance in the Federal Republic of Germany
Recalling at times the country at its darkest hours, military remembrance in the Federal Republic of Germany is embodied today in two symbolic dates. Direct heir to that history, the Bundeswehr, the present-day name of the country’s armed forces, has managed to reconcile itself to the origins of that remembrance culture and accept its specificities.
Owing to their shared roots and centuries as neighbours, the old European nations of Germany and France share certain historical and cultural approaches. As far as the military culture of remembrance is concerned, however, the differences are noteworthy.
Where France continues to see the First World War as the “Great War”, for Germany the Second World War constitutes the real break that continues to mark the nation’s collective memory.
The crimes of the Third Reich still cast a shadow on the Bundeswehr, even though the latter was not conceived until after the Second World War and officially established on 12 November 1955. The fledgling Federal Republic of Germany learnt some important lessons from the past; the Bundeswehr serves to preserve the country’s freedom and its Basic Law, which embodies the essence of Germany’s historical experiences. It is not by chance that our Constitution begins with the words: “Human dignity is sacrosanct. All public authorities have an obligation to respect and protect it.”
The experience of the war and the dictatorship explains why our national day, the Day of National Unity, is celebrated on 3 October without the participation of the armed forces, whereas in France they are very much in evidence, with the annual Bastille Day parade on 14 July on the Champs Élysées.
Two days are particularly important to military remembrance in Germany: 20 July and the Day of National Mourning.
Honouring the German resistance
20 July is a day of national commemoration, but it is not a public holiday. This in no way detracts from its symbolic importance, and the date is part of Germany’s historical legacy of intellectual freedom and the rule of law. On 20 July 1944, a group of courageous and determined men and women – German soldiers, first and foremost – united around Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, attempted to overthrow the dictator Adolf Hitler by assassinating him. The coup, planned within the army under the code name “Valkyrie”, intended to put an end to the criminal National Socialist regime, restore the rule of law and bring the bloodbath of the Second World War to an end as swiftly as possible.
Operation Valkyrie failed, and most of the members of this resistance movement would pay for their courage with their lives. But 20 July 1944 marked a turning-point in German history, a key event that did not fail to divide German society at the time. On the 15th anniversary of the attempted coup against Adolf Hitler, the first chief of staff of the Bundeswehr, General Adolf Heusinger, said the following: “The action of 20 July 1944, an action against the restriction of rights and freedoms, is a glimmer of hope in Germany’s darkest period.” The members of the military resistance were bore witness to the existence of “another Germany”, beyond the Hitler dictatorship. To them, the commitment to a better Germany and to defend the rule of law was a stronger imperative than the oath of unconditional allegiance sworn to a dictator who was leading the German Empire to its ruin and to the abandonment of all morality. In the young Federal Republic of Germany, this “conscientious revolt” of Stauffenberg’s group soon became a focal point of the collective memory, and 20 July 1944 became a key event in military tradition and in the Bundeswehr’s perception of itself.
It is in this historical perspective that the tribute to the resistance and the swearing of the oath by the Bundeswehr take place, on 20 July each year, in the federal capital, Berlin, the historical setting of the attempted coup and today the home of the federal Ministry of Defence. Every year on that date, as gatherings, commemorations and oath-swearing goes on throughout the Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany, members of the Bundeswehr from across Germany, all the armed forces and throughout the military hierarchy make their way to Berlin to represent the Bundeswehr in an oath-swearing ceremony. The ceremony is broadcast live on German television.
Oath-swearing ceremony of new recruits at the Bellevue Palace, Berlin, the official residence of the German president, with Covid social-distancing restrictions.
© Ministry of Defence, Federal Republic of Germany
The commemorations begin with a formal ceremony of the federal government, in which a detachment of the battalion of honour and a combined-arms brass band also participate, in the courtyard of the Memorial to the German Resistance, in the grounds of the Bendlerblock, the Ministry of Defence headquarters in the Mitte district of Berlin. The ceremony is held there every two years, alternating with a ceremony at the Plötzensee Memorial, the prison where most members of the anti-Nazi resistance were murdered in 1944 and 1945. There, too, the commemorations are followed by an oath-swearing ceremony, which takes place either in the parade ground of the federal Ministry of Defence, or on the esplanade of the Reichstag building, which houses the Bundestag, in the heart of Berlin. The symbolism of this ceremony before the seat of parliament is particularly powerful, since the Bundeswehr is a “parliamentary” army: as an organ of the executive, its means of control are in the hands of the Bundestag. In addition to the detachment of honour comprised of the battalion of honour and the combined-arms brass band, 450 young recruits usually participate in the oath-swearing ceremony, which is attended by the federal Minister of Defence, the Bundeswehr chief of staff and nearly 2 000 guests, including ministers, elected members of the Bundestag and regional parliaments (Landtage), and resistance members or their families. Every year, a guest of honour reads out the text of the oath, after the Minister of Defence’s speech. In 2017, it fell to the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sylvie Goulard. The ceremony reaches its height when the recruits swear “to loyally serve the Federal Republic of Germany and to valiantly defend the rights and freedoms of the German people.”
The swearing of the oath marks their formal entry into the military community and their sworn commitment to our society.
Historically, this political culture and the liberal order of the Federal Republic have great strength and stability. But they should not be taken for granted. 20 July 1944 serves as a reminder, and prompts us to follow our consciences and fight courageously for our rights and freedoms.
This day of military commemoration reinforces the perception of the ethical dimension of each soldier’s commitment to serve. In Germany, the armed forces are not an end in themselves. They must be permanently engaged in protecting the citizens of our country, its liberal and democratic constitutional order, and the dignity of every human being. Thus, the Bundeswehr is naturally committed to the Constitution, while at the same time being an instrument of German security policy based on its values.
“Remembering the deaths of millions of innocent people”
On the second Sunday before the first Sunday of Advent each year, the Federal Republic of Germany celebrates the Day of National Mourning, in memory of the victims of war and tyranny. Citizens and/or their elected representatives in every town and city across the country organise commemorations, religious services and wreath-laying, in which the Bundeswehr participates.
Since 1993, the Neue Wache, on the Unter den Linden, in Berlin, has been the Federal Republic of Germany’s central memorial, whose purpose is to remind all Germans of the victims of war and tyranny. The federal president and representatives of the federal constitutional bodies lay wreaths in a simple ceremony. The Bundeswehr takes part by giving military honours.
The Day of National Mourning reminds us how millions of innocent people have lost their lives, and serves as a warning, urging us to be actively committed to liberal democracy and peace in Europe.
On this day, the Bundeswehr also pays tribute – at the Bundeswehr Memorial, near the federal Ministry of Defence in Berlin – to the members of the Bundeswehr who have lost their lives in the line of duty, in the name of peace, rights and freedom in Germany.
The federal Ministry of Defence invites the families of the dead servicemen and women to the event, to contemplate, honour and remember them. The presence of other high-level political and civil-society representatives, together with military attachés, underlines the special importance of the occasion.
It is a modest, dignified and heartfelt ceremony. The minister ceremonially lays a wreath with a relative of one of the dead servicemen or women, accompanied by the Bundeswehr chief of staff. After the laying of the wreath, each family member and each guest is given a rose, which he or she lays beside the wreath, as a symbol of individual and collective remembrance. Participants are then invited to take part in the commemoration held by the German war graves commission, the VDK, in the plenary chamber of the Bundestag, in honour of the victims of war and tyranny.
This overview of the national commemorative days in which the Bundeswehr participates has given us an insight into how closely our military remembrance, compared to other countries, is tied to our values and how it includes a considerable amount of self-reflection. Beyond being a military profession, the incorporation of a set of values is an important aspect of how the Bundeswehr perceives itself and the tradition of which it is a part. The principle of conscientious obedience of our responsible uniformed citizens is summed up in the concept of innere Führung, the moral and civic education of our armed services personnel. That principle sends a clear signal: we have learnt the lessons of history, and in particular from the shadow of the Third Reich.
It was therefore with pride for the understanding it has of itself, its professionalism and the sense of what has been accomplished that Bundeswehr celebrated its 65th birthday on 12 November 2020, at the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, the seat of the federal presidency. That date had been marked by a ceremony the previous year, when oaths were sworn before the Bundestag in Berlin and across all the Länder. This seems to point to the birth of a new official day of military commemoration.