Now the “affair“ or „the event“ Margot Käßmann is already more than a week old. Yet the media keep writing about it. Yesterday, there were as many as three separate comments with the headline “Käßmann” on a single page of the „Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung“. I presume that was meant as a gag.
In case you had forgotten: Frau Käßmann had the highest position in the hierarchy of the Protestant Church in Germany. She ignored a red light when driving her car and having 1.5 per mill of alcohol in her blood – and was caught red-handed. She herself was so appalled by this that she resigned from her office a few days later.
For me, this was quite a drawback. I am looking for people who might serve as models. People who might be capable of forming an elite. An elite that adheres to and passes on values even in times of turmoil. Frau Käßmann was in the public limelight and, to me, seemed to be this kind of person.
And then she made a mistake one would not have thought a rational person in her position capable of. That makes me sad.
To top it all, I read in the FAZ of Sunday that her office car was a Phaeton. That was when my sorrow was replaced by astonishment. What could motivate a church servant to drive the Sun Car Phaeton (Sonnenwagen) as her official vehicle? After all, it even played an ambiguous role in Gree mythology?
In order to do their job, top managers and top politicians do not need luxurious limousines. These vehicles are just symbols of power. They show to the entire world that you made your way up the ladder and how terribly important you are.
So why does a Protestant Church that lives off the money of its congregation equip its top managers with luxury limousines? Or did Wolfsburg sponsor the car? Both alternatives are probably equally detrimental for the image of the Protestant Church. Apparently, they preach water and drink wine. And why did a woman like Margot Käßmann not refuse such a car? Or else forswear an official car altogether? Now that would have been a signal!
The Carinthian national hero Haider also drove a Phaeton. He was the man who did so many good things for his country (like sell the Hypo-Adria to Bavaria) and in his folksy way also liked to drink a little more than necessary.
In the end, he, too, did not benefit from driving his Phaeton.
RMD
(Translated by EG)
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