Overview
- Baden-Württemberg’s minister-president presented Angela Merkel with the Staufermedaille in Gold in Stuttgart for her “outstanding political commitment during the pandemic,” according to the state chancellery.
- Merkel called the pandemic a “democratic imposition,” reflected on temporary curbs on civil liberties, and urged a sober, non-polemical review, noting that many measures withstood court scrutiny.
- Winfried Kretschmann praised her “decisive, prudent and effective” crisis leadership and argued her actions prevented even higher casualties, citing about 190,000 COVID-related deaths and ongoing Long Covid cases in Germany.
- The Staufermedaille is a personal award of the minister-president given for services to the state and common good, typically issued in silver and only rarely in gold.
- Commentary highlighted discontent with the honor and its timing, with critics calling it provocative and warning it could be read as absolution while a Bundestag Enquete-Kommission continues its examination of the pandemic response.