additional information to the article:

the cdu /csu government of helmut kohl was governing 16 years. the today's opposition is responsible for the high foreigners quota. but we should not forget that among this foreigners there are a lot of the ex communist countries. it was kohl who embraced these countries because he felt obliged to do so. i do not agree that this discussion serves to divert the public from the briberies scandal of helmut kohl's clique. this is such an old story that really nobody cares. the german would care if the stasi files of the german leaders (especially the socialist ones) were to published. but that's for another article.

there are ca. 3 million turkish people in germany and 600'000 kurdish people. there is a very big italian colony in germany.

the son of ex chancellor helmut kohl, peter kohl, married a turkish lady!!! deutsche leitkultur for frau kohl? better krauties or kebab? the leading german social democrats are always spending their holidays in italy, in luxury villas, better spaghetti than knoedel?

there are counties whith an extreme high quota of foreigners (30 %) as berlin and other attractive cities. there are counties with less than one percent foreigner quotas.

concerning the role of the president of germany, i wish only to remind the healing words of the ex president freiherr richard von weizaecker concerning the past of germany.(at the occasion of the 40th aniversary of the end of the 2nd ww, 9th may 85, directed to the german parliament) they are unforgotten. the actual president rau, son of a preacher, must continue to appeal to the germans morality and conscious. that's his duty! and if you watch the friday's night parada of the the deutsche jungs in uniforms in frankfurt and other cities (is that the deutsche leitkultur the foreigners shall adopt, a turkish worker in an uniform with his german friends on the paradas?), i get afraid.

there is no deutsche leitkultur. there is a deutsche kultur and there is a deutsche unkultur (non culture). and the dangerous talks of the politcal leaders is unkultur, that's all.

what worries more behind this expression leitkultur (words are weapons) is that it could mean that the foreigner should behave like a german and not as the word could insinuate to adopt the german culture. that's a difference. where you can't find culture you cannot adopt it.

we must also admit that in germany there a many counties with a very high unemployed quota. no casuality that in these counties you can hear to speak about deutsche leitkultur more than in other counties with a high employment quota.

and here we are again! 50 years after. i feel very sad and bad.

i fear that the havana cigar smoking socialist chancellor schroeder in his boss suits has not the format to stop the leitkultur discussion. he has no kultur. in our times we don't need showmen.

gigi

unter jeden deutschen eiche liegt eine leiche. (Heinrich Heine) (under each german oak there is a corps)