“There are people who risk their lives for society, and they simply deserve a certain amount of appreciation and recognition,” David Hallbauer says.
He was a soldier deployed abroad and now serves as deputy chairman of the Association of German Deployment Veterans (BDV). The organization has been campaigning for an official Veterans Day in Germany for years.
On Sunday, June 15, it will get its wish when military veterans will be honored for the first time with a large civic celebration at the Reichstag parliamentary building in Berlin and other events nationwide.
Hallbauer is delighted. “In other countries, this is a matter of course, but it hasn’t been established here at all until now,” he says.
Why Germany hasn’t celebrated Veterans Day
There are obvious historical reasons as to why a culture of appreciation for veterans is only now developing in Germany. The tradition of celebrating war veterans ended with the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
The Nazi’s so-called Heroes Memorial Day was abolished and replaced by a national day of mourning. After the Wehrmacht, the Nazi’s unified armed forces, was disbanded, Germany had no army at all for a decade. Veterans’ associations were also banned during this time.
Even after the Federal Republic of Germany founded its military, the , in 1955, no new veterans tradition initially developed. This began to change in the 1990s when more German soldiers were deployed abroad. They served in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Africa, and some returned wounded or traumatized.
But not all of these soldiers received the help they needed from the Bundeswehr or other government agencies in response. German society seemed to have little more than a friendly disinterest in the Bundeswehr, despite the fact that foreign deployments were approved by parliament.
Hallbauer also experienced this lack of interest. He describes how, at one of his association’s commemorative events in front of the Reichstag in Berlin, tourists from the United States, England and France “where the ones who thanked us for our service, while the Germans were of the opinion: ‘What kind of guys are these?’” he says. “Most people who came by couldn’t relate to us at all.”
How German lawmakers began to recognize military veterans
It was mainly the veterans themselves who repeatedly raised their concerns until they were finally heard among lawmakers. Linking the little-used term “veteran” to the Bundeswehr in a new way was challenging because many associated it with World War II.
A new definition was needed. In 2018, the then Minister of Defense, Ursula von der Leyen, finally provided one. In an order of the day, she decreed, “A veteran of the Bundeswehr is anyone who is in active service as a soldier in the Bundeswehr or has retired honorably from this service and has not lost their rank.”
According to this broad definition, the country has around 10 million veterans, most of whom no longer wear a uniform.
It was not until April 2024 that the to create a Veterans Day by a large majority. Only the Left Party abstained, criticizing what they called “symbolic politics.” The resolution included a pledge to improve support for veterans wounded in action and their families.
From the veterans’ point of view, there is still a long way to go in providing for wounded soldiers. Lengthy examinations and bureaucratic hurdles often mean delays in receiving care.
“We would like to see faster, simpler procedures,” says Andreas Eggert, a soldier for 25 years who was deployed seven times to Afghanistan. The 49-year-old returned from his service with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Celebrations and protests planned for Germany’s Veterans Day
Eggert now volunteers helping other veterans. He plans to spend June 15 at the main event in Berlin, which will be opened by Bundestag President , a member of the conservative .
The event aims to have a folk festival atmosphere with a stage program, food trucks and games for children. In the Reichstag building, rock star Bryan Adams will show his photo exhibition “Wounded: The Legacy of War.”
“We need a day of recognition like this,” says Eggert, who also sees the event as an opportunity to start a conversation with Bundeswehr critics.
An alliance of left-wing groups has announced protests at the Berlin event. Participants criticize the “glorification of the Bundeswehr” and the “staging of Veterans Day as a family-friendly event with the character of recruiting for the military.”
The Bundeswehr has, in fact, recently ramped up its recruitment efforts. In light of growing military demands related to , Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in early June that to meet goals.
The new security demands have sparked debate about a return to military conscription, which was abolished in 2011. For now, Chancellor ‘s coalition government and make serving more attractive to young people.
This article was originally written in German.
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