Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and her spokesperson have to deal with a social media scandal. On Tuesday, the "Bild" newspaper discovered that a picture with a Wehrmacht uniform including swastikas had been uploaded to the Bundeswehr's official Instagram account. The shown uniform apparently comes from the Military History Museum Dresden and was part of an Instagram story.
Two iron crosses, the wounded badge of the Wehrmacht and an imperial eagle are clearly visible. All four badges and medals carry the swastika. Showing the swastika found the Bundeswehr people who look after the account, apparently also funny. So they completed the picture with a blinking "retro" sign and a tasteless caption. "#Mode is also an aspect, and military stylistic elements have remained in #HauteCouture to this day."
Photo is gone - but an explanation came only on demand
Shortly after the "Bild" asked the Ministry of Defense, the Bundeswehr put out the photo, but without documenting or explaining the misconduct in any way.
A spokesman was guilty on demand. The text for the picture is misleading, the story "thoughtless or insensitive". The employee is now looking for the interview. Of course, according to the spokesman, Wehrmacht symbols and especially swastikas are not "meaningful". A strict ban on Wehrmacht symbols in all barracks had prevailed Kramp-Karren Bauer's predecessor Ursula von der Leyen against many resistance from the Bundeswehr.
The Instagram account is part of a veritable media offensive of the Bundeswehr. More and more high-ranking officers now have Twitter accounts, also produces the Bundeswehr for some time consuming YouTube series to recruit young people. The minister herself also likes to use the social media to spread her speeches or photos of troop visits. In terms of Instagram, the reach is not bad, about 309,000 users follow the Bundeswehr account.
New guide just came out - and now the first scandal
That over the official account now openly swastikas with cynical comments have been posted, is however difficult to dismiss as thoughtlessness. The Green MEP Tobias Linder calls therefore already for Wednesday statements in the defense committee. "The Bundeswehr must immediately clarify how something could come on their Instagram account," he said on Tuesday evening.
Responsible for the account is Christian Thiels, the spokesperson for the minister. The former ARD journalist had declared it to be one of his missions when taking on a job in the summer to make the Bundeswehr more present in the social media. Only a week ago he published a guide for all soldiers and explained how they should use the social media. It is therefore very important for every post office to "further improve the image of the employer Bundeswehr".
In the current case, this has undoubtedly gone completely wrong.
