Is Christine Lambrecht really Prussian Minister of War? Sometimes fact checks are just fun because they are so wonderfully absurd.

We received a request that made us laugh heartily. The great, wise search engine Google, which supposedly knows everything, EVERYTHING, has access to almost all existing websites and also sees itself as an artificial intelligence, made a heartfelt mistake that would make every German history teacher blush with shame and anger would have done if it had happened to one of his students.

Forward to the past

Anyone who googled Christine Lambrecht, a minister in the newly elected traffic light government, until a few days ago found the following reference:
MIMIKAMA
Oops, PRUSSIAN war minister?
Seriously? Okay, somehow this has something to do with members of the German government, but unfortunately it's completely out of date... Let's be objective about it. What role does Minister Lambrecht really fulfill? Minister Lambrecht is the current Minister of Defense of the Federal Republic of Germany. Click here for her profile within the Federal Cabinet. By the way, Defense Minister is a term that beautifully expresses the German attitude towards its Bundeswehr as a defense army. Minister of War induces a very aggressive basic attitude, according to which conflicts or desires of a state are initiated and resolved militarily. A war of aggression is also possible. We are currently experiencing the threat to Ukraine from Russia.

Historical excursion

There have been Prussian war ministers since 1809, when the associated ministry was created as the highest central authority of the Prussian army. From 1867 they were also responsible for the contingents of the North German Confederation, and after 1871 also for troops in southern Hesse and Baden.

The archive portal of the German Digital Library describes the work of the Prussian War Minister as follows: “The Prussian War Minister represented the army administration in the Reichstag, especially in budgetary matters. Responsible for military administration in the broader sense since the 1980s, the War Ministry, in cooperation with the General Staff, the weapons inspections and examination commissions, issued orders on the organization, equipment, armament and maintenance of the army and laid down the training principles for enlisted men and non-commissioned officers. The Minister of War had to draw up the mobilization plan annually with the cooperation of the General Staff and the civilian authorities. In the course of the First World War, the importance of the War Ministry took second place to the leadership institution of the General Staff of the Field Army.
Since November 1916, however, the War Office under his command, in which the war economics departments of the War Ministry, especially the raw materials and replacement department, were brought together, gained considerable weight. Subordinated to it were the weapons and ammunition procurement office (Wumba) as well as war offices in the districts of the (deputy) general commands." ( HERE ) The successor authority from 1919 was the Reichswehr Ministry.

Was it possible to know that?

This was the little Mimikama history lesson. But even the sensitive gut of the attentive reader could probably have guessed that a woman would hardly have made a career as war minister under the Prussians. Probably not a professional career at all. The time of the Prussians is also long over.
The good feeling remains that Google doesn't know everything. Even if that means that when obtaining information you have to continue to critically examine the source of the information and not take anything or anyone at face value. A cross-check with another source is and remains mandatory. This is media literacy. The error is not always so obvious.
And honestly? That is a good thing! Because if we believed everything we read every day, including the greatest possible nonsense, then evil forces would have an easy time dealing with us. Moooooment, what does that remind me of? Anyone who feels reminded of the gullible followers of conspiracy stories is unfortunately right. But that's why we exist... 😉
Correct Google profile of Minister Christine Lambrecht
Correct Google profile of Minister Christine Lambrecht
By the way, Google has now made improvements and Minister Lambrecht is now saved in Google with the correct function. Phew, lucky...

 
 

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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )