Yesterday was a remarkable and historical day in the Reichstag, German Parliament.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel apologised and asked the German people to forgive her. The previous day the German government ordered a strict lockdown during Holy Week. Yesterday the restrictions were lifted and Merkel took personal responsibility for the government decision.
It is seldom a leader makes such a profound apology. Has it ever happened in Germany before? And certainly it is the first time for a post-war German Chancellor to apologise in such a manner in the Reichstag.
After the 8pm Tagesschau (Evening News) she gave an interview to ARD correspondent Oliver Köhr, explaining the current Covid situation and again, she apologised for her mistake.
Her main concern now is to deal with the third Covid surge.
It was a symbolic moment in a symbolic building for a German Chancellor to ask forgiveness. It surely must have been a moment in which the Reichstag was exorcised of the evil of Adolf Hitler and the German people who followed all his evil and badness.
Yesterday showed the world how Germany has come of age. It showed in the starkest of terms the difference between Adolf Hitler and Angela Merkel.
And her apology did more. It may have been that final farewell to the GDR parliament that sat in Der Palast der Republic, a place full of lies and dishonesty. Symbolic too that the apology came from a woman who spent her childhood in Templin. And it's also worth noting that the Palast der Republik is about to be reborn in the form of the former Berlin Palace, now to be called the Humboldt Forum. It is due to open its doors this year.
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