• In the video above: “With carnival seriousness”: Who wrote a insulting poem about Baerbock and Habeck

The State Department staff magazine has the Publication of a defamatory poem about the former minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) processed. In the issue of “internAA” published at the beginning of March, the editorial team commented on how it could happen that the text “Ken & Barbie”, which refers to the ex-minister, was able to slip into the magazine. The employee magazine, an excerpt of which is available from FOCUS online, also suggests that the poem certainly had fans in the Foreign Office.

“On our own behalf,” the editorial team explains that last summer they called on the ministry’s literary employees to submit texts. “Ken & Barbie” was also among the submissions at the time. Although the poem is only signed with the abbreviation “SIGGIG”, the deputy German consul in Timisoara, Romania, Siegfried Geilhausen, identifies himself as the author in an accompanying text.

In the poem, the diplomat judges – although without naming the ex-minister by name, but hardly concealed – that Baerbock gave “glossy speeches without skill” and “no longer had people in mind”. Her new job as President of the UN General Assembly the Green Party politician “tricked” herself. Baerbock’s party colleague Robert Habeck also gets his fill of the text as a former economics minister.

Baerbock poem was originally not intended to be published

Because of the “overwhelming” success of the writers’ call, not all texts submitted could have been printed in “internAA” last year, the editorial team now explains. “Ken & Barbie” didn’t make it into the magazine at first either. At this crucial point the editors remain vague: was the poem excluded from publication for political reasons? Or did it just fall behind due to the sheer volume of texts?

The current issue of “internAA” simply says about the non-publication: “Such decisions are made again and again in the editorial team. This is normal, because it is our job to make editorial decisions.”

When the employee magazine planned a second writer’s issue for January, the poem slipped into the magazine “due to time pressure and inattention.” After the magazine was published, the editorial team “became aware of the error.” At this point, they had already received “some, but not many” letters about the poem. Finally, the magazine was published again – this time without the poem.

Divided reactions in the Foreign Ministry

The editorial team then goes into more detail about the reactions from the ministry: “The booklet with the poem angered some people,” they say. At the time, for example, the company’s equal opportunities officer, Anne Glumm, expressed sharp criticism. But then the article also says about the poem: “The others came onto the scene when it was taken out.”

For diplomats whose daily business involves dealing with language, one must assume that this comparison is no coincidence. The editors indicated that the poem had divided the Foreign Ministry and that there were definitely fans of the work. That’s not surprising: In addition to author Geilhausen, there are some in the Foreign Office who were critical of Baerbock as minister.

Apparently there was a debate in the meantime about giving more space to the conflicting opinions about the poem in the new edition of “internAA”. “After weighing up the pros and cons,” the editorial team decided not to print letters to the editor on the topic.

Did the editorial team disagree about the assessment of the poem?

It remains unclear whether there was pressure from the leadership of the ministry around Baerbock’s successor, Johann Wadephul (CDU), on this point specifically and on the process in general. The press office blocks any specific inquiries from FOCUS online, pointing out that “internAA” is a purely internal magazine. In general it says: “The editorial team of ‘internAA’ makes decisions about the content of the magazine independently.”

How this editorial team evaluates the content of the poem is not made clear either in a note in the January issue or in the article in the current issue. This may also be because there are different opinions about Baerbock among the editors of “internAA”. A sentence in the March issue suggests this: “The people who create this magazine all have political views, and they are even very different.”