Politicians - Matthias Platzeck celebrates his 70th birthday
For his 70th birthday, Matthias Platzeck first has to prepare enough places to sleep: "I'm driving around and collecting all available air mattresses from friends and acquaintances," Platzeck told the German Press Agency a few days before his milestone birthday. The staunch Babelsberger wants to celebrate his special day next Friday with his family at his home in the Uckermark. "We're surrounded by beautiful nature and the children have space to run around," he said. And the family is constantly growing. "In addition to my own three daughters, there is also a daughter by marriage and now seven grandchildren, which is growing all the time," he says happily. "The beds in the little house are no longer enough."
The jubilarian is now looking forward to a little more free time. "The federal government had commissioned me with four commissions - nuclear, coal, German unity and the Future Center," he says. "There was a lot to do." He has also successfully mediated several times as an arbitrator in collective bargaining disputes at Deutsche Bahn and Lufthansa.
Platzeck is still active on the board of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, as chairman of the board of trustees of the Eastern European Film Festival in Cottbus and at the Jewish Film Festival in Berlin Brandenburg. He is also a board member of the Jerusalem Foundation, which works to improve Jewish-Palestinian relations. "What is happening there hurts," he says about the current war in the Middle East.
"I hope that the next year will bring us closer to peace in the world. I am not completely without hope," says Platzeck, also with regard to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. "What is happening there is destroying more than we can see at the moment," he warns. He gave up his chairmanship of the German-Russian Forum after the start of the war, but Platzeck continues to maintain contact with Russia. "I believe it is important not to burn all bridges," says Platzeck. "We should know what is going on in society there."
The man from Babelsberg has increasingly shifted the focus of his life to the Uckermark. He uses his tractor to keep the one-hectare meadow around the house in good shape. "Half of the property is now a bee pasture with lots of plants - you only need to mow it twice a year," he reveals.
Platzeck was an enthusiastic regatta sailor until he entered politics at the turn of the century. But his dream of spending more time on the water again has only been fulfilled to a limited extent. "I went sailing on the Baltic Sea twice with a friend," he reveals. After the big birthday party, he and his wife are going on vacation. The destination will not be revealed, just this much: "We're staying in Germany."
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Source: www.stern.de
