Herrenchiemsee (dpa) – Issuing warnings to all enemies of democracy, Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has commemorated the birth of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. “We all – every politician, but also every citizen – have a shared responsibility for our democracy. We must protect it,” Steinmeier said at the celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of the Constitutional Convention in Herrenchiemsee. “Let us remember that our democracy was born in the shadow of dictatorship, war and genocide,” the federal president stressed.
The Constitutional Convention took place at the Old Palace on Herrenchiemsee island in August 1948. It was convened by the premiers of the federal states of the Western occupation zones. In the space of just two weeks, the Convention drew up a constitution that laid the main foundation for Germany’s Basic Law. In the Old Palace, Steinmeier also opened a new exhibition on the Convention. “The Constitutional Convention of Herrenchiemsee is probably one of the least known of the key milestones in the history of German democracy. And yet it is one of the most important,” he said.
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