"We are United Today by much more than Our Common History"
President Steinmeier at a dinner hosted by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, and Pavlos Kotsonis in honour of the Federal President and Elke Büdenbender
November 05th, 2024
“And here I am today, [...] with a few words of Greek the only currency in my hands. These words are modest but full of life, since they are spoken by an entire people. They are three thousand years old, but as fresh as if they had just been pulled from the sea. [...] They are the word Ο ουρανός – sky, the word η Θαλασσα – sea, the word ο ήλιος – sun, the word sη ελευθερία – liberty.
This is what the Greek poet Odysseus Elytis said in his acceptance speech on winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1979. Sky, sea, sun, liberty – four simple words that have remained unchanged for millennia, which can be used to describe the soul of his home country, which can help to understand the Hellenic Republic, Greece.
It goes without saying that these four words are not nearly enough when it comes to understanding Greece. Philosophy, democracy, dramaturgy and literature are four defining aspects that spring to mind and which are indubitably just as much part of Greece’s identity. Scarcely any other country has played a bigger role in forging our common European civilisation, scarcely any other country of which, especially we Germans, believe we have such an intimate understanding because we know that so much of our own culture has its roots here in Greece. Greece appears, intellectually and emotionally, even closer to us than it is in geographical terms. The development of my country was shaped also by ancient Greek culture in a fundamental and, above all, enduring way.
We are united today by much more than our common history and cultural history. This is demonstrated in the many reciprocal political visits of our time, which is also evident by my visit, which stands for the diversity of our ties. Madam President, my wife and I are grateful for the reception that you gave us in Thessaloniki yesterday! The fact that we were able to begin what is now my fourth visit to your beautiful country as Federal President together with you in your home city is an expression of genuine appreciation. Both of us share not only a passion for constitutional law, but we also share the firm belief that no country can tackle the major challenges of our age by itself. After a period of crises in Europe, a number of which also strained our relations, today we are focused with wholehearted conviction on greater cooperation in Europe. Let us hope that the difficult days of German-Greek relations of ten or fifteen years ago are now firmly behind us. Today, our economic relations are delightfully close and we are working together in a spirit of trust in the European Union and are partners in NATO. But it is, in particular, the human ties, the wanderers between worlds, shaped by both cultures, that bring our countries together time and again – this is what, to name but a few, the painter Aris Kalaizis, football legend Otto Rehhagel and journalist Georgios Pappas, who are accompanying me on this trip from Germany to Greece, stand for. Three hundred and sixty thousand Greeks can call Germany their home, and thousands of Germans have made Greece their home.
And so, I would like to mention four further words today that I associate with Greece on a most personal level: the word filoxenia – hospitality; the word zestasiá – warmth; the word empistosýni – trust; and the word filia – friendship.
There are so many powerful words for describing Greece, and yet it feels like we have never said enough. Nobel Literature Prize winner Odysseus Elytis ultimately established that language alone may not at all be sufficient: Greece, I have long ago concluded, is a concrete sensation – it would be worth finding a linear symbol for this [...]
Perhaps that would make a number of things easier. But until that time, let us join together in a toast to the sky, the sea, the sun and to liberty – to Greece’s hospitality, warmth, trust and friendship.
Thank you very much for having us here today. Yamas!
