Final roll call and grand tattoo
Around 93,000 soldiers of the Federal Armed Forces were deployed in Afghanistan. They were honoured on Wednesday with a final roll call in Berlin. This was followed in the evening by the grand tattoo in front of the German Bundestag; Federal Chancellor Merkel also participated, showing solidarity with the Federal Armed Forces.
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Grand tattoo in front of the German Bundestag: gratitude and recognition for deployment in Afghanistan.
Photo: Bundesregierung/Schacht
The deployment in Afghanistan demanded a lot of the Federal Armed Forces and made its mark on them. They proved themselves in battle. However, members of the Federal Armed Forces were injured in body and spirit, and 59 people lost their lives in Afghanistan. The official final roll call for the Afghanistan deployment took place on Wednesday in Berlin. In the evening, the most formal military ceremony of the Federal Armed Forces, the grand tattoo, took place in front of the German Bundestag. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel paid her respects to the soldiers of the Federal Armed Forces with her participation.
The deployment of the Federal Armed Forces in Afghanistan was finally concluded when the military evacuation operation was ended on 27 August 2021. It lasted almost 20 years, and 93,000 soldiers served in Afghanistan, in some cases multiple times.
“Today is your day, a day of acknowledgement. You are in the limelight today,” said Federal Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in her speech during the final roll call. The day was intended to offer a view of the soldiers who sustained the deployment. A historic chapter has ended with the Afghanistan deployment. “No deployment of the Federal Armed Forces has lasted so long, and none was as dangerous as this,” said Kramp-Karrenbauer.
The Federal Armed Forces can be relied upon
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also recalled that the Federal Armed Forces had carried out the mission assigned to them by the German Bundestag. “And one thing is beyond any doubt:
the Federal Armed Forces have fulfilled their mission. The Federal Armed Forces can be relied upon,” said Steinmeier, and that the main objective of the deployment, to prevent Afghanistan from being a refuge for international terrorists, had been achieved.
The final roll call took place in the presence of Federal President Steinmeier, Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble, Bundesrat President Reiner Haseloff, President of the Federal Constitutional Court Stephan Harbarth, Federal Chancellor Merkel and Federal Defence Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer, as well as other invited guests, on the parade grounds of the Federal Defence Ministry.
The acknowledgement of 20 years of deployment in Afghanistan was begun by a wreath-laying ceremony by representatives of the operational units at the Federal Armed Forces memorial.
Reception by Bundestag President Schäuble
Bundestag President Schäuble subsequently invited the representatives of all the constitutional bodies and members of the German Bundestag, around 300 soldiers as well as casualties, surviving dependants and high-ranking guests to a reception at the German Bundestag. Federal Chancellor Merkel took the opportunity for informal conversations with soldiers who had been deployed in Afghanistan.
Berlin, 13 October 2021: The deployment of the Federal Armed Forces in Afghanistan was finally concluded with the end of the military evacuation operation. The Federal Government, Bundestag and Federal President honoured the soldiers with a number of events.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble, Federal Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and the Inspector General of the Federal Armed Forces, Eberhard Zorn, met further guests at the Federal Ministry of Defence.
In the past 20 years, there were around 160,000 deployments at the Hindu Kush, in which 59 soldiers lost their lives.
To honour these lives, Steinmeier, Kramp-Karrenbauer and Schäuble laid wreaths at the memorial of the Federal Armed Forces.
“They paid the highest price that a soldier can pay on behalf of his country,” said Federal President Steinmeier. “We are greatly in their debt.”
This was followed by the central final roll call at the parade grounds, in which Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel also participated.
Federal President Steinmeier and Federal Defence Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer walk along the length of the guard of honour at the start of the event.
The Federal Defence Minister’s speech followed. She thanked the men and women once again: “No deployment has made its mark on the Federal Armed Forces as much as this deployment in Afghanistan. None before was so long, so intensive, so dangerous.”
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier recalled that the Federal Armed Forces had carried out the mission assigned to them by the German Bundestag. “And one thing is beyond any doubt: the Federal Armed Forces have fulfilled their mission.” The Federal Armed Forces could be relied upon, Steinmeier said.
The Federal Chancellor converses with Afghanistan veteran Sven Hornig at a reception at the German Bundestag. He only just survived a Taliban attack in 2010 in which three of his comrades were killed, while five others were injured.
In the evening, the heads of the constitutional bodies gathered in front of the German Bundestag.
The acknowledgement reached its climax with a grand tattoo at the Platz der Republik.
Sergeant Major Jens Burdinski and Surgeon General Katharina Siegl stand in for the almost 93,000 members of the Federal Armed Forces who served in Afghanistan. Both were deployed together.
The grand tattoo is the most formal military ceremony of the Federal Armed Forces – an honour for the soldiers who were deployed in Afghanistan for our country.
Grand tattoo in front of the Reichstag building
The evening was concluded in the presence of Federal Chancellor Merkel with the grand tattoo at the Platz der Republik in front of the Reichstag building, once again showing solidarity with the soldiers of the Federal Armed Forces.
The grand tattoo is presented on special occasions. It is the most famous military ceremony of the Federal Armed Forces and has a tradition reaching far back into German military history. The grand tattoo follows a strict sequence of musical elements and military ceremony.