A candle in the window is how Germany is supposed to commemorate the corona dead today. In Berlin, the central memorial ceremony with a few surviving dependents of Corona victims and politicians will take place this Sunday, led by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Representatives of the federal states called on citizens on Friday evening to light a candle in their windows to take part in the commemoration. Michael Müller, the ruling mayor of Berlin, advertised the situation on Twitter, for example, and the request could also be found on other accounts of prime ministers and state chancelleries.
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A protest against this proposal has arisen on Twitter under the hashtag »Einkerzen«. In many cities, people place candles in front of government buildings instead of putting one in a window. The motto of the protesters: “Light them yourself!”
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Already on the day of remembrance there was criticism in advance. At least the time – in the middle of the third wave – was chosen unhappily. But the invitation to the citizens also made some people particularly angry. Politicians are jointly responsible for the many deaths, according to the accusation that politicians should take responsibility themselves instead of hypocritically mourning. On Twitter, many users expressed their anger among the posts of the federal states, and some eventually joined forces in a protest.
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Planned since Friday
The decisive factor was a post from Marcus Ewald, a crisis management consultant. He suggested on Friday evening that candles should be brought to the prime ministers and given to state chancelleries or town halls. Addressing the ministers, Ewald wrote: “You choose the window. It’s yours. ”Ewald’s plan was to set up 79,628 candles in every state capital, one for every person who was reported to have died of Covid-19 at this point in time.
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His idea quickly found support, and the hashtag #Einkerzen spread on Twitter over the course of Saturday. There were already 14,000 tweets on Sunday afternoon. Many of them contain photos that show that people actually followed Ewald’s call. In the Hessian state capital Wiesbaden, for example, you can see a considerable sea of candles in front of the State Chancellery. There are also grave lights and candles in front of the Rotes Rathaus in Berlin.
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According to the pictures, the protest is not limited to the state capitals: there are also photos from Münster and Augsburg.
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It is mostly private individuals or smaller accounts who tweet under the hashtag. But there are also alliances such as »NoCovidMünster« or the »Green Zone«, which advocate a no-Covid policy.
No reaction from politics
So far, no reactions to #Einkerzen have been read on the accounts of the state governments. At Twitter users report that some of the candles are already away were. But the protest should continue today.
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Michael Müller meanwhile continues to advertise the candle campaign on Sunday – so of course the one that the federal states have come up with.
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Note: In an earlier version of the article it was said that the “Green Zone” was committed to a zero-covid policy. In fact, however, the alliance supports the no-covid strategy. In addition, the initiator of the campaign was referred to as a PR consultant, but Marcus Ewald is a crisis communication consultant. We corrected both mistakes.
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