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Merkel on the way to the federal press conference
Photo: BERND VON JUTRCZENKA / AFP
The matter is urgent.
That should be reflected in the short-term announcement.
At 8:01 a.m. on Monday morning, the Federal Press Conference sent the invitation to the Chancellor's appearance almost six hours later at the same location.
Angela Merkel usually doses such solo appointments in front of the assembled capital city press very sparingly.
She usually only comes here once a year for her so-called summer press conference.
But the times are not normal and this Monday is not an ordinary day.
In the course of her appearance, Merkel will express this in her sometimes awkward language: "This is not something of a minor event."
Certainly not.
This Monday, the country is going into a shutdown for the second time this year.
At least in part, public life is being shut down again in the fight against the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
In its more than 70 years of existence, the republic has never experienced what people have to shoulder again within eight months.
So it's really no wonder that the CDU politician wants to clarify a few things again on this historic date.
From a purely demoscopic point of view, Merkel is actually in a comfortable position: The mood in the population is stable, according to current surveys, the vast majority of citizens continue to support the corona policy of the federal and state governments, even after the resolutions of last Wednesday.
Merkel's personal popularity ratings are high.
But: how sustainable is that?
You can understand the "displeasure and displeasure" that is already there, says Merkel.
And resentment and displeasure, she is aware, are likely to grow.
Because the new restrictions have only been in effect since this Monday, so they will only be felt in their full scope for the people in the country in the coming days.
The hint, which the Chancellor also tries to make in her press conference, that some neighboring countries are in a real lockdown, so that much more drastic measures are being taken there, only helps to a limited extent.
Merkel: No light at the end of the tunnel yet
In November, which is often already dreary, life in Germany becomes even dreamer for people.
Merkel herself admits: "The light at the end of the tunnel is still a long way off."
For the Chancellor, this means that she will have to work harder these days to explain, explain and justify the political process.
Since this is not necessarily Merkel's favorite discipline, it makes things all the more exhausting for her.
Wednesday press conference with the prime ministers, Thursday government declaration in the Bundestag, now another public explanation hour - this is just too inflationary for Merkel's circumstances.
But a lot doesn't always help a lot.
The Chancellor must not exaggerate.
Another TV address, as at the beginning of the first shutdown in spring, could possibly unsettle citizens more than it sensitizes them.
In addition: Merkel may still need opportunities for improvement in the event that the situation becomes even more dramatic - a speech to the nation at prime time, so to speak, as the last means of communication.
Merkel used the almost 80 minutes in the federal press conference once again to give an urgent warning that the hospitals are approaching "an acute emergency".
From this, the Chancellor inevitably takes the necessary steps.
This Monday, too, she does not explicitly speak of the lack of alternatives, as Merkel justified the political means she chose in past crises.
But implicitly it boils down to exactly that.
"The virus punishes half-heartedness," she says, in view of the fact that contacts from corona-infected people can hardly be followed up, one has to "achieve a reduction for the whole".
There is also a hidden good news
This is undoubtedly tough, the Chancellor admits, also with a view to the many industries affected and for almost everyone it means "four weeks without a lot of things that make life beautiful".
For the period after that, she "doesn't want to speculate," says Merkel, which also means that the November shutdown might not be enough.
But, and that could be understood as hidden good news this afternoon: "We will try everything politically to keep it limited to November."
But for this the Germans would have to adhere to the measures.
Politicians are "dependent on understanding and acceptance".
That is why the Chancellor is making a very strong campaign at the start of this historic week.
The question is: will it get through, will the Prime Ministers still get through?
At the beginning of the second shutdown, the North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Armin Laschet had a social media film produced in which he also campaigns for acceptance of the measures, wrote an open letter, filled entire newspaper pages with corresponding advertisements, and in the morning the CDU left -Politicians question themselves from citizens for a whole hour on WDR radio.
Its central message: "Stay at home!"
But what if not?
In terms of communication, the Chancellor would still have her last joker: the televised speech.
But then things should look really dark in the country.
And then the November measures would probably only be the beginning of a really dark Corona winter.
"It is up to everyone to make this November our joint success, at a turning point and back to the traceability of the pandemic," said Merkel this afternoon.
That leaves nothing to be desired in terms of clarity.
She can't do more for now.
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