The classy Cem Özdemir of the Green Party has become Germany’s first state premier (Minister-President) with Turkish roots, a success story for the state of Baden-Württemberg, home of Martin Heidegger and Albert Einstein. From a historical perspective, however, the rise of Turkish-descended individuals to powerful positions in German society carries a very different meaning.
The relevant history of the German state of Württemberg begins with Conrad III of Hohenstaufen, who led the Second Crusade. His campaign to the Holy Land failed when the German army was crushed by the Turkish Seljuks at the Disaster of Dorylaeum in 1147.
Württemberg’s men tried again centuries later through the Tempelgesellschaft, a Protestant group founded in the late 19th century. Though named after the Catholic templar, this group had little to do with the Crusades.
These Christians of the Tempelgesellschaft migrated to Ottoman-ruled Palestine to build rural communities there. The first group of German emigrants arrived in Haifa (now Israel’s main industrial port) in 1868. They established additional colonies near Jaffa, Sarona, Jerusalem, and elsewhere.
The German settlements in Palestine became the most economically successful communities. Local populations were underdeveloped and showed little interest in planned growth.
In 1898, Emperor Wilhelm II visited and met Zionist leader Theodor Herzl to discuss Palestine’s future. From 1903 onward, Germany collaborated with the Ottoman Turks on the famous Berlin-Baghdad railroad, as envisioned by Otto von Bismarck.
Without the world wars, Germany might have dominated the Middle East today, securing cheap energy and trade with the East (India and China). Allied with a friendly Western Russia, this German Reich could have become history’s most powerful empire.
The British Empire could not permit this. Around 1940, Serbian nationalists acting on British orders sabotaged their section of the Berlin-Baghdad railroad, cutting Germany off. It forced Hitler to try to capture Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, for its oil reserves. Failing to do so, Hitler foresaw the German defeat in 1945.
After World War II, the Württemberg Templers soon departed Palestine. By 1948, Britain helped establish modern Israel, based on biblical claims to Jewish ownership of the land. Yet without the infrastructure the Germans first built and left behind, a modern Israel might not exist today.
This is why Cem Özdemir’s rise carries deeper significance than it appears: the roles have reversed. Israel, backed by the USA, might now work with Turkey to influence or dominate Germany rather than the reverse.
In my personal opinion, German Chancellors such as Merkel or Merz are, in fact, Israeli-American puppets, installed to keep the German people subdued long enough for the Turkish-Israeli takeover to succeed. And likewise, Ursula von der Leyen is playing her role to keep Europe buried under needless regulation that are designed to kill European competitiveness.
Without cheap Russian energy (Nordstream 2), Dutch gas fields (filled with cement!), or nuclear power plants, Germany lacks the means to resist a Turkish takeover.
Unless Iran destroys Israel, at which point everything changes again.