On Tuesday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) greeted roughly 140 carnival revelers from all German states at the Chancellery. “Man, this place could always be a bit more lively” he told the jokers.
The Chancellor admitted that he feels a certain kinship with carnival. It all starts with his birthday-he was born on 11 November 1955-and the fact that his grandmother was a Rhineland lady from Andernach. “In the last century I’ve had three chances to celebrate my birthday with a genuinely nice ‘Schnapszahl'” he continued. “I turned 22 on 11 November 77, 33 on 11 November 88, and 44 on 11 November 99. Can any of you top that? Just look!” He added that the turn of the millennium dashed that tradition, “since then those Schnapszahlen are gone”.
Merz, who comes from the Kurköln Sauerland, can enjoy both carnival and Schützenfeste-most of you cannot. “That’s why you’re in the right place today” he said to the carnival participants. He said he would later see parts of the federal cabinet and hoped to bring a touch of the joyous spirit he brings into the Chancellery into the meeting.
He went on to explain that on the day of Weiberfastnacht near Brussels he will spend the whole day in a brief lockdown, discussing the competitiveness of European industry. “That’s not really my calendar idea”. He added that he would have liked to be a little carnival‑ish that day. “The only immediate benefit for me: I get to save my tie”.
