Annalena Baerbock: Silent ambassador of gaming

Annalena Baerbock is the new face of the initiative “Botschafter*in des Spielens”. She does not want to answer questions about it as Federal Chair of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen. Ulrich Brobeil, Managing Director of the German Toy Industry Association (DVSI), does. The DVSI launched the initiative, not entirely without self-interest.

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Annalena Baerbock holds many offices. Among other things, she is Federal Chair of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, a member of the Bundestag and a member of the refugee aid association Hand in Hand. Since August, Baerbock has also been a Botschafterin des Spielens. The DVSI created this playful office in 2014. Baerbock is not the only one with the title. According to the DVSI, there are about a hundred Botschafterinnen and Botschafter des Spielens, including Health Minister Jens Spahn, Education Minister Anja Karliczek and Minister of State for Culture Prof. Monika Grütters.

“DVSI wants to raise awareness of the importance of play”

The DVSI represents the interests of around 230 companies in the German toy industry, including publishers such as Abacus, Asmodee, Games Workshop, Hasbro, Kosmos and Ravensburger. Brobeil launched the “Botschafter*in des Spielens” initiative shortly after his appointment as DVSI Managing Director. According to him, this had three main reasons.

“Firstly: children have no lobby in politics. Secondly: German family policy has so far focused very heavily on financial benefits and the expansion of infrastructure, such as childcare in daycare centres. There is nothing wrong with that. In the 2000s, the Pisa results also led to the realisation in Germany that early childhood education is a central cornerstone for participation and upward mobility. The foundations for later successful learning are laid in the first years of life. However, children acquire many of these skills through play. It is the first method for acquiring and understanding the world. Thirdly: many daycare centres are chronically underfunded. They often lack resources in every area, not least good toys. And this is exactly what we want to highlight with our initiative: play is a fundamental human phenomenon. And this should be taken into account in all ‘thought experiments’ in family and education policy. At any rate, the DVSI wants to raise awareness of the importance of play. Incidentally, the ‘right to play’ has been enshrined in Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child since 1998.”

Association benefits from proximity to politics

Initially, the DVSI approached potential Botschafterinnen and Botschafter itself. Now, however, politicians also contact the association. “Which of course makes us very happy,” says Brobeil. Once appointed, a Botschafterin or Botschafter des Spielens remains one for life. It is an unpaid honorary position. There are also no expense allowances. “As a Botschafter, you receive a certificate when donating toys to a facility for children,” says Brobeil. “The official appointment and the donation should ideally be the start of further cooperation. We hope that this will lead to an intensive relationship between the facility and the Botschafter, but also between the facility and us as an association.”

The DVSI benefits from its proximity to politicians. Brobeil also used the visit to the kindergarten for lobbying. He spoke to Baerbock about sustainability among toy manufacturers and product responsibility of online platforms. The DVSI wants clear rules at the European level so that traders from third countries can no longer sell unsafe products. The DVSI also benefits from these contacts in other ways. There is a Communication and Lobbying Committee. The association also actively represents the interests of its members to political bodies in Europe, at federal level and in the federal states. The DVSI participates in hearings, prepares statements on planned laws and contacts political decision-makers.

“A committed Botschafterin des Spielens”

The DVSI hopes that the “Botschafter*in des Spielens” will give children’s needs a voice in politics. “For children, play is a top priority, while politics often only has the interests of the economy in mind: getting them into the cycle as quickly as possible. However, I believe we need a holistic approach that does not just focus on cognitive aspects but also emotional ones. A stronger playful element can even play an important role in our school system,” says Brobeil.

“Annalena Baerbock is not only Federal Chair of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen but also a deputy member of the Committee on Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, where she advocates for children’s needs as a mother and member of the Bundestag. During the donation handover at the Fröbel-Kindergarten Kinderland, the family policy expert explicitly emphasised the importance of play for child development, especially in times of Covid-19. With her, we have therefore gained a committed Botschafterin des Spielens who is working to ensure that children’s needs finally receive the political recognition they deserve.”

Ten questions, no answers

In August, Baerbock presented the kindergarten in Ludwigsburg with a ride-on tractor, wooden toys, a marble run, swing ropes and a farm set, among other things. Association members and manufacturers close to the DVSI had donated the toys.

kulturgutspiel.de wanted to know from Baerbock how she specifically advocates for children’s playful needs in the Bundestag and how she intends to promote play culture and the cultural asset of play. She did not want to answer these and other questions. The press office of the Federal Executive Committee of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen wrote: “Thank you for your email of today. Unfortunately, due to a large number of requests, we have to decline for capacity reasons and with regret.” For this reason, we are publishing our interview questions here. If the press office should have capacity at some point, we will of course update the article.

1. When was the last time you played?
2. What did you like to play with as a child?
3. Why did you decide to become a Botschafterin des Spielens?
4. What do you want to achieve as a Botschafterin des Spielens?
5. You are not only a Botschafterin des Spielens but also, together with Robert Habeck, Federal Chair of the Greens. The draft of the party’s new basic programme states: “Children need the freedom to play and to learn, to laugh and to cry, to feel joy and anger. They have their own rights. These must be at the centre of politics and society and must be independently guaranteed in the Basic Law.” Why is it important that children have a right to play?
6. Does it make a difference to you whether children play analogue or digital games?
7. The draft of the basic programme also states: “Promoting and protecting cultural diversity is an important task in an open society. Access to and participation in art and culture must be equally guaranteed for everyone. This applies to cultural education as well as to cultural institutions, cultural associations and cultural assets. Therefore, art and culture need public funding.” How do you intend to specifically promote play culture and the cultural asset of play?
8. The Spiele-Autoren-Zunft (SAZ) is calling for a reduced VAT rate for all cultural products and artistic services, including analogue and digital games. What do you think of the idea?
9. The Deutscher Kulturrat supports the inclusion of analogue games in the collection catalogue of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Do you?
10. On 12 March, you gave a speech in the Bundestag about the situation at the Turkish-Greek border. In it, you said that Mr Erdogan’s inhuman game works primarily because the EU is falling into fear and terror as a result. Is politics also just a game?

Update 15 August 2021
We sent our questions to Annalena Baerbock for our magazine Null Ouvert again in January 2021. This time she replied.