Dear members and friends of the Desiderius Erasmus Foundation,

In these days of pre-Christmas preparations, there is often little time for reflection. But we should take the time to do so. Our country and our culture are undergoing dangerous changes in many respects.

For centuries, we in Germany have lived on the foundations of a Christian-influenced Western world. Art and culture, science and research, our towns and villages are shaped by this and have developed on this basis.

But too often, nothing is the same as it used to be. And that's not a statement made to prevent progress, because we need progress, but because we are heading in the wrong direction. Our fundamental traditions are under threat and the foundations that support us are beginning to crumble.

The security measures for our Christmas markets are the most obvious sign of this. Since the Islamist massacre at Berlin's Breitscheidplatz in 2016 and last year's Islamist attack on visitors to the Magdeburg Christmas market, even the most ignorant must recognise that we are in the midst of a culture war. These attacks, as well as the almost countless knife attacks with fatal consequences and gang rapes, have a far over-representative proportion of perpetrators from Muslim countries.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

In addition, there is an increasing number of crimes against Christian churches, such as arson, vandalism, damage to property, and urinating on altars or crosses, which are virtually ignored by the media. It is disturbing that Germany now leads Europe in the number of Islamist-motivated arson attacks on churches, with 33 cases in 2024 alone.

At the same time, we must recognise that school meals in our schools are increasingly being geared towards Muslim rules, and that radical imams in mosques can call for the fight for an Islamist theocracy almost unhindered.

We must recognise that our Christian Western foundations and our cultural identity are increasingly under threat.

And this is true in two respects. It is threatened not only by mass immigration from Islamic countries, but also by the increasing secularisation of our own citizens. Religious beliefs and rituals have lost their significance in public life, but also in private life. More than half of our citizens describe themselves as secular. The number of members in the major established churches is falling steadily.

Those who leave these official churches often do not fundamentally turn away from the Christian faith, but rather do not want to continue financing the secularisation and blatant politicisation within the church. This is what I did years ago. In recent years, preaching and religious mission have increasingly given way to political activism. It is not uncommon to get the impression during church services that one is attending a left-wing party event. When we also increasingly see AfD members not only being isolated within their congregations, but also excluded from offices and duties and no longer allowed to serve as altar boys, then this has nothing to do with Christian ethics and a Christian view of humanity.

We must recognise that the Christian view of humanity and the values derived from it, which have shaped our society for centuries, are undergoing change not only outside the churches, but even within them.

Meanwhile, a change that borders on self-abandonment!

As a former Christian or an atheist, one could shrug one's shoulders and say: what does it matter to me? That would be short-sighted and downright criminal.

It concerns us all. It also concerns non-Christians. We cannot and must not be indifferent to the fact that Islamists have long since set out to impose Islam here in our country. We must note with concern that both the state and the official churches are indolent in their response to this.

One should have been forewarned. It was Erdogan, now President of Turkey, who laid his cards on the table quite openly back in 1997 when he announced:

„Democracy is just the train we board until we reach our destination. The mosques are our barracks, the minarets our bayonets, the domes our helmets and the faithful our soldiers.“

On the one hand, we note that a large number of immigrants – including those from Muslim cultures – are now well integrated and respect or even share our values. On the other hand, it should not be overlooked that there is a significant level of militant, fanatical Islamist infiltration.

We must not close our eyes to the fact that we are already in the midst of a culture war.

On two fronts, in fact: both culturally and religiously, but also in the confrontation with leftists and left-wing extremists, as well as with supposedly middle-class people who want to undermine the foundations of our established identity and have already caused serious damage. And who have also ruined the economic basis of our country and do not shy away from ignoring the constitution that protects us as citizens.

Germany is a beautiful country with a rich cultural heritage. It must be our common concern, or rather, it should be our common concern – especially that of the respective governments – to preserve this heritage and pass it on to future generations.

The war generation rebuilt Germany's cities from ruins. And Germany was far more devastated at the time than Syria is today. It is shameful that we have a Foreign Secretary who is either unaware of this or refuses to acknowledge it.

Science, art, culture and even the economy flourished once more after the upheavals of the Second World War.

But if you look around today, you will see that Germany has been heading in the wrong direction for quite some time now. Our country, which was once one of the world's economic leaders, is clearly in steep decline. A desolate, dilapidated infrastructure, crumbling bridges, the state of the German railways and countless schools are just the most obvious signs of this.

But even more dramatic is what must deeply concern us as friends and advocates of democracy: our fundamental rights, indeed our constitutional state and democracy, are in acute danger.

A large-scale summer raid involving over 180 police operations, including more than 60 house searches at six in the morning – not because of violent crimes or imminent danger, but because of posts on social media. Computers and mobile phones were confiscated. There was no question of proportionality. And when the Chancellor alone files around 500 criminal complaints against authors of critical posts because he cannot tolerate criticism, it feels like we have been transported back to a time when lèse-majesté was a criminal offence.

The freedom of expression guaranteed to all citizens under the constitution is in grave danger. This fact has now spread abroad. It was US Vice President Vance who held up a mirror to Germany at the Munich Security Conference. With his statement, „We must do more than just talk about democratic values. We must live them.“

It is clear to any alert observer that our country, that German democracy, has been fundamentally transformed, indeed violated, in its very essence over the last ten years.

Our constitution is a precious asset. It is intended to protect us citizens from an intrusive, dictatorial state. It is not the government that should be protected from its citizens, but rather the constitution that protects us citizens. the Protective shield against arbitrary state power. For a free and democratic state, the right of citizens to express their opinions freely, without interference from the state, is indispensable. Here in Germany, too, it is quite obvious that this is no longer the case. And that is putting it mildly. More than 50% of our citizens now believe that it is no longer possible to express one's opinion openly. That is a dramatic finding.

Our foundation has set itself the task of counteracting this worrying overall problem and contributing to raising awareness and providing information.

Against this backdrop, DES has focused on the topic of „Germany's deficient democracy“ in our range of lectures and seminars this year. In addition, we have also covered a wide range of topics, which you can read about on our website.

To this day, we carry out the foundation's work exclusively with the help of donations. Due to the Foundation Financing Act of 2024, we are now obliged as a political foundation to report the names of all donors who have donated more than €10,000 to the federal government and to make them public. Naturally, this has led to a number of our donors reducing their donations accordingly out of a not unfounded fear of stigmatisation or even persecution by Antifa.

From 2026 onwards, our foundation will be entitled to substantial federal funding in accordance with this Foundation Financing Act. This is subject to the Federal Minister of the Interior giving the green light. According to the budget plan for 2026, the total volume of „global grants for social and democratic education work“, from which we are financed, amounts to €193,574,000. Of this, our foundation is entitled to 13.2 % according to the calculation method based on four legislative periods. So far, I have no indication as to how the Home Secretary will decide. However, as the review criteria are so vaguely worded, the door is wide open to arbitrariness. We will see.

In any case, we at DES are well prepared to finally communicate our educational offerings nationwide in depth and breadth on an equal footing with other political foundations in the new year.

If the DES is again unlawfully disregarded, there will be no alternative but to bring further legal action.

Dear friends and supporters of DES, In this Christmas newsletter, I have addressed topics that are close to the heart of our foundation and myself at greater length than usual. It was a matter of particular importance to me.

However, this whole issue must not and will not paralyse us, but rather spur us on to repeatedly touch on the sore points of our beautiful country and shed light on them.

Regardless of this, I agree with Theodor Fontane and his postulate that „those who want to create must be cheerful“.

I wish you and your loved ones a peaceful Christmas and sincerely hope that we will meet again several times in the new year in good spirits and with enthusiasm.

Warm Christmas greetings and all the best for the New Year

Yours

Erika Steinbach