Friedrich Merz has recently shown little sensitivity when it comes to certain statements.Image: keystone
Friedrich Merz considers himself lucky not to have been born in the GDR. An Eastern party conference is an unusual place for such a statement.
November 30, 2025, 05:17November 30, 2025, 05:17
Thomas Wanhoff / t-online
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz once again raised eyebrows with a sentence. At the party conference in Saxony-Anhalt, the Chancellor and CDU chairman also spoke to the Eastern members about his past. He sees it as a personal stroke of luck that he was born in the West during the time of German division – and not in the GDR. He literally said:
“I am lucky, and it was nothing more than luck and chance, just to be born in the West and grow up in the West.”
This apparently surprised some participants. “The faces in the audience speak volumes,” wrote political correspondent Miriam Lau, who works for “Die Zeit,” on the “Well, the family was always lucky enough to be on the right side,” wrote another.
Kohl met with criticism with “Grace of Late Birth”.
Merz’s sentence is reminiscent of a saying by Helmut Kohl. The former Chancellor and CDU leader spoke of the “grace of late birth” during a visit to Israel in 1984. By this he meant himself and the generation of Germans who were born after 1940 and “could not get into guilt”. The Chancellor wanted to express that personal guilt during the Nazi era depended on the random date of birth and the specific family constellation.
In fact, the formulation was perceived as offensive in Israel, but also in Germany. The then SPD opposition politician Horst Ehmke criticized Kohl in a speech: “It is this act of being historically unaffected that makes your speeches in Israel,” he claimed, “sometimes appear banal to the point of lack of dignity.”
Several controversial statements from Merz
Merz’s statement was accepted at the party conference, but there has been no clear criticism so far. In recent weeks, the Chancellor has often caused a stir with his statements. There was the cityscape sentence that was directed against migrants in German inner cities, the saying “Ask your daughters” afterwards and his complaints about the Brazilian city of Belém, where the world climate summit was taking place. Everyone in his delegation was happy to leave there, he said. There was outrage in Brazil, and Merz had to try to relax.
At the state party conference, Merz immediately declared himself. The Chancellor emphasized that people in the West have been fortunate to have lived in peace and freedom for 80 years and not just for 35 years like the people in East Germany after reunification. What we fought for together was not the result of historical coincidences, but rather the result of political decisions. “Politics works,” said the CDU politician.
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