Merkel: "Since reunification, no, since World War II there has not been a comparable situation. […] I want to tell you what you can do." 
She says she’ll explain not just what is being done, but why it’s being done and what the rationale is, a necessity in an open society.
"The state will continue to work […] but everything that can harm people we mow have to reduce. […] I know how hard the closures are cutting into our lives and into our understand of democracy."
"For me, someone who had to fight hard for the possibility to travel freely, [restrictions] can only be a temporary."
Merkel has thanked nurses and doctors, and is thanking the people who keep running grocery stores.
She is calling on everyone: we are all vulnerable and dependent on the acts of others.
"At the moment, only distance now means care."
"We all have to find ways to keep social ties alive: Skype, e-mail, maybe write a letter. Postal services of course will continue. I believe we can do even more."
"We are a democracy. We are not a society based on force, but on participation […] It will be down to every single person, to everyone [helping out]."
In 15 years, Chancellor Merkel has never addresses the populace directly in this manner. We are in uncharted waters.
Here’s my two cents: This was remarkable because it has never happened before. It was what we needed from the leader of a democracy; a call to action and to unity and a reminder that expert opinion is what drives the work of the government, which is elected by us to do this work.
It was, in one word, powerful. It was understated but urgent. It explained the situation as extreme, it appealed to people’s better angels, and it explained that any further steps taken would also be taken in according with our democratic principles and expert recommendations.
(Please forgive any inaccuracies in citing/translating, I tried to stay as close as possible to the spoken word but had to sum up some things.)
(And another apology for all the typos and autocorrects I didn’t catch. It’s Twitter, it’s real, no edits.)
