On 5 April 1957, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer told the press that tactical nuclear weapons were only a Weiterentwicklung der Artillerie, a further development of artillery. A week later, on 12 April, eighteen nuclear scientists published a declaration. Among them were the Nobel laureates Otto Hahn, Max Born and Werner Heisenberg. It began: Die Pläne einer atomaren Bewaffnung der Bundeswehr erfüllen die unterzeichnenden Atomforscher mit tiefer Sorge. (The plans to arm the Bundeswehr with nuclear weapons fill the undersigned nuclear researchers with deep concern.) They explained why they spoke: Deshalb können wir nicht zu allen politischen Fragen schweigen. (That is why we cannot stay silent on all political questions.) None of them, they wrote, would take part in making, testing or using nuclear weapons. Adenauer was outraged and rejected the scientists’ interference in politics. He met them on 17 April. The German Wikipedia states that public pressure led Adenauer to give in, and that the Federal Republic renounced nuclear weapons.
Give Freedom of Thought
In the central scene of Schiller’s Don Carlos, first performed in Hamburg on 29 August 1787, the Marquis Posa speaks to King Philip II of Spain. Twice he tells the king: Ich kann nicht Fürstendiener sein. (I cannot be a servant of princes.) Then he makes his demand: Ein Federzug von dieser Hand, und neu / Erschaffen wird die Erde. Geben Sie / Gedankenfreiheit. (One stroke of the pen from this hand, and the earth is created anew. Give freedom of thought.) In the text, the demand runs across a line break. The king answers: Sonderbarer Schwärmer! (Strange dreamer!)
The Yes-Sayer and the No-Sayer
In 1930, Bertolt Brecht and the composer Kurt Weill wrote Der Jasager, the Yes-Sayer, a school opera to be performed by students. It was first performed on 23 June 1930 in Berlin and broadcast live on radio. In it, a boy agrees, according to the Großen Brauch, the great custom, to be thrown into a valley. In November 1930, students at the Karl-Marx-Schule in Berlin-Neukölln performed the piece and discussed it. On 9 December, their teacher sent Brecht the minutes of the discussions. Brecht printed extracts of the students’ suggestions in his own publication. Based on their objections and on the reviews, he wrote a counterpart: Der Neinsager, the No-Sayer, in which the boy refuses and successfully contradicts the verdict.
Argue, but Obey
In December 1784, Immanuel Kant answered the question Was ist Aufklärung?, what is enlightenment, in the Berlinische Monatsschrift. From all sides he heard the cry: do not argue! Der Offizier sagt: räsonniert nicht, sondern exerziert! (The officer says: do not argue, drill!) Kant’s answer kept obedience and objection together. An officer who receives an order must obey it while on duty. But he cannot fairly be prevented, as a scholar, from writing about the errors in the military service and putting them before the public. A citizen cannot refuse to pay his taxes. He may still argue publicly against them. Kant quoted the one ruler who allowed this: räsonniert, so viel ihr wollt, und worüber ihr wollt; aber gehorcht! (Argue as much as you like, and about whatever you like, but obey!)
Nearly Ten Million Objections
Anyone in Germany who disagrees with a tax assessment can file an Einspruch, an objection, within one month. In 2023, the tax offices received 9,932,766 objections, more than three times as many as the year before. The reason was the reform of the property tax, which required every property owner to file a new declaration. Of about 3.6 million objections that were settled in 2023, about 2.5 million ended with the office correcting its decision.
The Census That Was Stopped
West Germany planned a census for the spring of 1983. Numerous citizens’ initiatives called for a boycott. On 13 April 1983, the day after the first hearing, the Federal Constitutional Court suspended the census law. On 15 December 1983, it declared many of the law’s provisions void and set out a new basic right, the right to informational self-determination. A society in which citizens can no longer know wer was wann und bei welcher Gelegenheit über sie weiß, who knows what about them, when and on what occasion, would not be compatible with it. The census was partly redesigned. Personal data were separated from the questionnaires, and the forms were revised. It took place in 1987, with the reference date of 25 May.
The Göttingen Seven
In 1837, King Ernst August of Hanover repealed the liberal constitution of 1833. On 18 November 1837, seven professors of the University of Göttingen lodged a written protest. Among them were the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the historian Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann and the physicist Wilhelm Weber. In December, the king dismissed all seven. Three of them, Dahlmann, Jacob Grimm and Georg Gottfried Gervinus, were also expelled from the kingdom. Citizens collected donations to pay the salaries of the three exiles, and all seven later held academic posts again.
The Potato Orders
Frederick II of Prussia issued a series of orders to make his subjects grow potatoes. Fifteen are known, and the first dates from 1746. The circular to Silesia of 24 March 1756 did not simply command. It told officials to make landowners and peasants understand the benefit of the new crop. The popular stories that follow are legend, not documented fact. In one, the peasants cooked the seeds or the plants instead of the tubers and then refused to grow them. In another, the king had potatoes grown under guard, as if they were valuable. When peasants stole the seed potatoes at night, the guards had orders to look away.
The Phantom Goal and the Goal-Line Camera
On 18 October 2013, in a Bundesliga match between Hoffenheim and Leverkusen, Stefan Kießling headed the ball into the side netting. It went through a hole in the net, and the referee gave a goal. The DFB sports court rejected Hoffenheim’s protest, because the referee’s decision on the facts is final. In spring 2014, the Bundesliga clubs voted on goal-line technology, and the proposal clearly failed. Cologne’s manager said the costs were too high to carry. That summer, the system was used in all twelve stadiums of the World Cup in Brazil. In December 2014, the clubs voted for it with a two-thirds majority. It has been used in the Bundesliga since the 2015–16 season.
The Vocabulary of Concerns
Bedenken äußern — to voice concerns. German also says Bedenken erheben, geltend machen or anmelden: to raise, assert or register them, as one registers a claim.
Zu bedenken geben — to give someone something to consider. It is the polite way to put a concern on the table.
Bedenken ausräumen — to clear concerns away. It is the job of the person who wants the change.
Bedenkenträger — a carrier of concerns. The dictionary DWDS defines him as someone who has concerns, often exaggerated ones, about a plan or an innovation, and marks the word as often pejorative.
Wer schweigt, stimmt zu — whoever stays silent agrees.