Gerhard Schröder picked up the phone after winning the vote of confidence in the Bundeswehr’s anti-terrorist mission in 2001 with just two votes more than was necessary. The chancellor, who had risked his office for unreserved solidarity with the US after 9/11, called Wolfgang Ischinger, the ambassador in Washington. It was important to the chancellor, Ischinger later recalled, that the White House knew the risk he had taken.
Access to all STERN PLUS content and articles from the print magazine
ad-free
Already registered?
