When Frank-Walter Steinmeier calls us into the hallowed halls of Bellevue Palace, we get curious. Especially when the mission is to travel the length and breadth of Germany and meet and interview 30 of the country’s most interesting citizens. Their stories, experiences and destinies concerning being German are shown in the video collage “Geteilte Geschichte(n) – Geteilte Wünsche” (Shared History – Shared Wishes).
30 Years of German Unity.
The video collage was shown as an installation in public space for 30 days on the occasion of the Day of German Unity 2020. The multimedia LED cube designed by brot & salz captivated passers-by and created a special and highly emotional experience of history. The statements of the 30 personalities as well as the speeches of the Federal Presidents were translated into sign language and created an inclusive dialogue.
Shared History –
Shared Wishes.
To mark the 30th anniversary of German unity, brot & salz was commissioned by the Office of the Federal President to produce a video collage with quotes from 30 people whom Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier met during his term of office in the “Divided History(s)” dialogue series and on other issues of togetherness in Germany. In their spoken contributions, the 30 interlocutors complete the following four sentences: “My name is… In 1990 I was… Today I am… For Germany I wish…” To commemorate important debates surrounding German unity, seven quotes from the speeches of the German presidents in office since 1990 were also woven into the collage.
The Villa Hammerschmidt:
History(s) of the
White House on the Rhine.
Greeting from the Federal President.
Thank you very much for taking a little time to reflect on 30 years of German unity, even though the Corona pandemic is challenging us in so many ways. Keeping our distance has become one of the most frequently heard pleas in this crisis, but that must not mean that we restrict the kind of closeness and exchange that our country needs right now for cohesion: between East and West, North and South, old and young, and all the other differences in origins, feelings of home, cultures, creeds or political convictions. Unity lives from the courage to make differences an issue and from the perseverance to negotiate democratic compromises. Unity lives from the determination to defend the values of our Basic Law again and again. Unity is what we have to win anew every day: we with each other.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Federal President
Bild: © Bundesregierung / Steffen Kugler
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