Merkel Reportedly Picks Song by 'Godmother of German Punk' for Her Chancellorship Farewell Ceremony

The tradition allows departing chancellors, as well as ministers, to choose a farewell song that will be performed by the Bundeswehr's orchestra.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has picked the song "Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen" (You Forgot The Color Film) by Nina Hagen to be performed by the country's Bundeswehr orchestra at the farewell ceremony dedicated to her departure from the chancellor's post, Der Spiegel newspaper has reported, citing anonymous sources.

Hagen is praised as the "godmother of German punk" and the song that the chancellor picked was once a big hit, at a time when Hagen still performed in the German Democratic Republic, where Merkel was born.

In addition to Nina Hagen's 1974 hit, the orchestra will reportedly perform the song "Fur mich soll's rote Rosen regnen" by another German singer, Hildegard Knef, as well as Christian anthem "Großer Gott, wir loben dich".

The farewell ceremony will be held on 2 December, as Merkel will be voluntarily leaving her post after 16 years. She announced her plans to resign long before the 2021 election, which brought staggering losses to her party, the CDU, and its CSU allies. As per tradition, Merkel got to choose the songs the orchestra will perform during the ceremony, which will be scaled down to 200 attendees due to the pandemic's limitations.