Enlarge image
Bismarck-Room in 2013: "The new name takes into account the historical development of the room in which the Politburo of the SED met during the GDR era"
Photo: Matthias Balk / picture alliance
The Federal Foreign Office under Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock renames the so-called Bismarck Room.
In the future, the meeting room will be called »Hall of German Unity«.
"The new name takes into account the historical development of the area in which the Politburo of the SED met during the GDR era," the Foreign Office announced.
The renaming "takes into account the fact that the Federal Foreign Office sees its line of tradition firmly anchored in Germany's democratic history," quotes the "Bild" newspaper from a statement by the Federal Foreign Office.
The new names of recently named rooms are the names of representatives of the Federal Republic, the Weimar Republic and members of the resistance against the Nazi regime.
Otto von Bismarck became the first Chancellor of the German Empire in 1871.
The year before he had already founded the Foreign Office.
That's why a painting in the Bismarck Hall commemorates him.
Debate on Bismarck
In recent years there have been repeated discussions about Bismarck's importance for Germany.
Since he has the reputation of bringing about German unity, there are numerous monuments throughout Germany that commemorate him.
When activists worldwide took action against the glorification of historical racists in 2020, the Bismarck monuments were also debated in Germany.
Originally, Bismarck had been a staunch opponent of non-European expansion, he did not believe in the economic advantage of colonies.
Due to domestic political pressure, he then entered the race for new territories.
In 1884, Bismarck invited the Congo Conference to the Reichskanzlerpalais in Berlin's Wilhelmstraße in order to agree on coordinated action by the European powers in Africa.
Their final document of February 1885 marks the beginning of the division of Africa into colonies.
ptz/csc
