A German Zapfenstreich: The Nationale Volksarmee of the DDR honors the heroes of the War of Liberation against Napoleon, as shown in this East German television broadcast from 1988. Incredible as it would have seemed to an observer looking forward from 1945, in this ceremony a goose-stepping German honor guard lays wreaths at the statues of the Prussian Generals Blücher, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau on Unter den Linden, and then dips its flag in honor of those commanders who led the Prussian army, reborn after its defeats of 1806-07, to victory against the French Emperor in 1813-15. This nocturnal scene plays out while the torches flicker, the bands play, and the soldiers, airmen and sailors of the NVA stand solemnly at attention before the illuminated Neue Wache and the Zeughaus, monuments that are themselves pregnant with the memory of a centuries-old Prussian heritage.
Posted on: Tue, 13 May 2014 16:54:28 +0000
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