Singer Herbert Grönemeyer (66) has called for a social rethink in view of the current crises. "In three or four years we will definitely be more positive. In the meantime, we should be more concerned with ourselves as a community: what makes us different? What do we want to build together and create for our common good?" he said in an interview with the "Sächsische Zeitung". .

One has to reconsider how East Germans and their concerns are seen: "The East Germans are not our problem children, you don't have to put a stamp on them," says Grönemeyer. Because no omissions of the last decades would be cleared up in this way, the office of the federal government's representative for Eastern Europe was "outrageous," he criticized. Rather, there should be a representative for public spirit. "We are one country, 16 federal states in Europe, that's it."

Grönemeyer was born in 1956 in Göttingen, Lower Saxony. Among other things, he celebrated successes throughout Germany with "Mensch" and "Bochum". His new album "Das ist los" was released at the end of March.