The most important events of the year are told in nine pictures.
(Photo: dpa)
There are pictures that the viewer can no longer get out of their head. That of Angela Merkel’s farewell, the red roses at the tattoo, is just as much a part of it as that of the swearing-in of the new Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Or the selfie of the four executives – Annalena Baerbock, Robert Habeck, Volker Wissing and Christian Lindner – from the Greens and FDP at the beginning of the traffic light coalition negotiations.
The container ship “Ever Given” stuck in the Suez Canal already gave a foretaste of global supply chain problems that would dominate the rest of the year in March. The corona pandemic did the rest.
In terms of foreign policy, the storm on the Capitol in Washington or the rescue operations from Afghanistan are remembered. But natural disasters such as the summer floods in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia also shaped the year 2021.
An overview in pictures:
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1. The selfie
Volker Wissing, Annalena Baerbock, Christian Lindner, Robert Habeck (from left to right) – this photo of the FDP and Green leaders was the unofficial starting signal for the traffic light coalition. As with the exploratory talks, the preliminary explorations were mainly characterized by the fact that, unusually, almost none of them leaked out.
2. Flood
(Photo: imago images / Reichwein)
On July 14th and in the night of July 15th, 100 to 150 liters of rain per square meter fell within 24 hours in parts of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. More than 180 people died in the flood disaster in Germany alone. There was damage to property amounting to billions. This was followed by a debate about the warning infrastructure in Germany and its use.
3. Suez Canal
The “Ever Given”, one of the largest container ships in the world, blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March. The ship’s accident, together with partial closings of Chinese ports, triggered a chain reaction. The result was massive supply chain problems. However, there are now the first signs of recovery.
4. Veiled
The Arc de Triomphe was covered for two weeks – 60 years after the idea was born and only after the deaths of the visionaries Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The two wanted to cover the triumphal arch since 1961. The cloths alienated the memorial, entirely in the spirit of the artist.
5. Afghanistan
(Photo: action press)
After the announcement of the withdrawal of US President Joe Biden’s troops, a large-scale rescue operation by Western citizens and Afghan local staff began. Four months after the Taliban marched into Kabul, more than half of the population is affected by acute food shortages, according to the United Nations World Food Program.
6. Swearing in
Olaf Scholz (SPD) has been the ninth Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany since December 8th. And the first of a traffic light coalition. At the beginning of August it did not look as if the then finance minister had a chance of winning the election – although his opponents Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and Armin Laschet (CDU) made mistake after mistake. In the end he triumphed. There are now many tasks ahead of the traffic light government.
7th tattoo
The end of a 16-year chancellorship: Angela Merkel said goodbye with “Great God, we praise you”, “It should rain red roses for me” and “You forgot the color film”. After that of Helmut Kohl (CDU), her term of office was the longest since the beginning of the Federal Republic. She missed Kohl’s record by a few days.
8. Dax 40
“40 is the new 30” – this is how Deutsche Börse advertised the expansion of its leading index by ten values. Since September it has been called “Dax 40”. Before the innovation, the Handelsblatt presented the ten new values collectively.
9. Assault on the Capitol
(Photo: Ron Haviv / VII / Redux / laif)
Trump supporters stormed the Washington Capitol in January. They wanted to prevent Joe Biden as the next US president. In response, around 25,000 soldiers were deployed when President Joe Biden was inaugurated.
Newcomers, relegators and visionaries – these are the people of 2021
Who achieved great things in 2021? Who surprises And who is there as the big loser? And: 22 theses for 2022 from Handelsblatt editor-in-chief Sebastian Matthes.
>> here all articles in the overview