Wulff. A name not that uncommon in German-speaking parts of the world. It is only one of the different variants we have. Some others include Wulf, Wolff and Wolf. Although the exact meaning is unclear today, it established itself as a reference to the legendary canid. If you would ask people on the street to describe the behaviour of a wolf, quite a few different terms would come up. Personally, I would describe a wolf as a very beautiful animal, powerful, fierce, cunning. Who knows, some attributes might also be applicable for people carrying the name.
Germany’s former president, Christian Wulff, who resigned in February, after the department of public prosecution of Hanover filed for the abrogation of Wulff’s legal immunity as president of the Federal Republic of Germany in order to be able to begin with investigations of corruption, at least managed to get German linguists to get creative. As a result of his more or less legal intrigues, a new verb came up: “wulffen” – which means to babble onto someone’s answering machine, as Wulff did with editor-in-chief of Bild, Kai Diekmann.
Since Wulff stepped down as president, another big discussion started because of the “Ehrensold” – the gratuity sum Germany’s former presidents receive after their services for their country have ended. Of course, in Wulff’s case “services” get a whole new meaning. Germans got furious after they found out that Wulff was to receive 199.000 € per year of tax payers money. Immediately, debates arose on whether such a scandalous and rather fruitless period of presidency was worthy of receiving such a large sum of money for the rest of his life. And for quite a long time too, since Wulff was Germany’s youngest president in history, at age 53.
I have to admit that I also do not agree with the Ehrensold for Christian Wulff. I do not want to play down the work Wulff has done in his time as president and I think it is difficult for third parties to rate Wulff’s efforts. But this large sum of money seems a bit too much, considering that he was only president for about two years. Furthermore, his predecessor Horst Köhler, who stepped down as president due to controversial statements on foreign deployments of the German Bundeswehr, turned down his Ehrensold, even though he was in office much longer than Wulff, having been president of Germany from 2004 – 2010.
Since it was the media who started to uncover the alleged scandals surrounding Wulff, claims have also been made about his wife, ex-First Lady Bettina Wulff, who allegedly has worked in the sexual services industry in her younger years, before she met her husband.
Apparently, she googled herself and was rather unpleased with the results and keywords that popped up. On Friday, she filed an action against Google and also against famous German TV host, Günther Jauch, who had quoted from an article in the “Berliner Zeitung”. According to local newspapers, she pursues a declaration of discontinuance from Jauch about mentioning the topic.
Let’s think about this for a second. I can understand that Mrs. Wulff dislikes connections of her being brought into connection with prostitution from an ethical point of view. And the media making statements without actual facts is also a never ending story. But to order a TV host from keeping his mouth shut and not being allowed to quote what or whom he wants is unacceptable in a nation that so proudly speaks of freedom of press/speech/opinion. In the meantime however, Günther Jauch agreed to the request within a few hours of these legal steps.
Another point that makes you think is the fact that you are allowed to say: “I think/heard that John Doe worked as a toilet cleaner from 2000 to 2001.” Now I am not a lawyer, but in my opinion I only made a statement about a profession I think a certain person had performed in a certain period of time, irrespective of the ethical point of view of the profession. Since prostitution is legal in Germany and employees of the sexual service industry also have to pay taxes and also get statutory health insurance, I really do consider seeing Mrs. Wulff succeed with legal cases for reputational damage as incorrect, when speculating on a former profession. A prostitute who meets the legal requirements such as majority age, health issues etc. is not performing an illegal profession. It would be a whole different story if I would make the statement that a certain John Doe worked as a hit-man or a drug dealer.
A large number of people commented on this story on the internet. Since Mrs. Wulff also filed for compensation for pain and suffering, many believe this is just another addition of the Wulff family trying to increase their wealth. And of course this is not the first time a member of the Wulff family tries to get a muzzle on the press…
If I recall correctly, the majority of Germans do not consider the greater part of statements from Christian Wulff to be true. Of course, no one can say Bettina Wulff worked in the sexual service industry for sure without having any proof supporting the statement, but honesty is a term most people do not bring into connection with this now infamous surname…
The Germafrican 