The 25. The anniversary of franz josef straub's death was the focus of the district CSU's celebration of german unity on thursday.
At the memorial stone at the banz monastery, the CSU district chairman, district administrator christian meibner, the designated members of the federal parliament, emmi zeulner, and of the state parliament, jurgen baumgartner, as well as the district chairman of the women's union, melita braun, the head of the banz monastery education center, michael moslein, and CSU district executive officer edith guthlein laid a wreath. The hochstadt brass band framed the celebration.
Christian meibner beamed: "we have every reason to celebrate", he said, referring to the recent successful elections for the CSU.
German unity would not have been possible without the preparatory work of franz josef straub, emphasized keynote speaker emmi zeulner. In his speech to the bundestag on 24. February 1955 he had already presented his idea of reunification in peace and freedom. He had ruled out war as a means of politics.
The speaker went on to say that it is often overlooked what a committed european straub was. He had stressed several times that reunification could not be brought about by our good will alone, but only by a united europe.
Early impressed by straub
As a young CSU politician, she was impressed by straub early on, said emmi zeulner "because he stuck to his convictions, openly and arguably". "I couldn't experience it, but I could get to know it, she said.
Former district administrator reinhard leutner had, when he wanted to "explain the world" to her, the young district councilor, always a photo of straub brought out. On one of these occasions, leutner called her "you" offered, just as straub offered him the "you had offered. "There were already three of us: the district administrator, FJS and me", she said.
She had not yet consciously experienced the days of reunification, the young politician said. "For me there is no east and no west, in my consciousness was and is always only the united germany". It will be the task of your generation of politicians to continue to fight for a united europe in the spirit of straub.
The newly elected member of the state parliament, jurgen baugartner, recalled the suffering of the second world war and its consequences. He said he was grateful to poland and hungary for agreeing to german reunification.
He took a hard line with his political opponents. Former SPD chancellor gerhard schroder, his aubenminister joschka fischer and the then SED/PDS chairman gregor gysi did not want german unity. For him, the 3. October the day when visions became reality.