Between Civilianization and Cyborganization – a ‘Zeitenwende’ in Depicting German Soldiers on Facebook?

After WW2 topics related to the military are sensitive issues in Germany. The civil society is still suspicious regarding armed operations (Jacobs & Pötzschke 2021) and the use of military force. Thus, in his studies on heroism Koch (2021) notices a “trend to civilize the military hero” in Germany: Soldiers may still be presented as strong individuals with exceptional skills, but meanwhile avoiding the use of force and appear as helper. On the other hand, Shim & Stengel (2017) observe a ‘cyborganization’ of German soldiers, a strong display of technology and weaponry, in the pictures of the Afghanistan mission published by the Bundeswehr. Overall, only few studies deal with the self-representation of the Bundeswehr – and even less with the depiction of German soldiers and armed forces nowadays.

However, this is of high interest, because when Russia fully invaded Ukraine in 2022, Chancellor Scholz declared a ‘Zeitenwende’ and correspondingly the political and societal awareness of the military shifted (Graf 2023): The German minister of defense e.g. claimed to get the Bundeswehr combat-ready. Therefore, the question rises, if also the way in which the military represents itself changed. Thus, this contribution proves if Koch’s thesis about the civilianization of military heroes is valid for the self-representation of the Bundeswehr nowadays or if weaponry gains relevance. A visual framing analysis of pictures and videos published by the Bundeswehr on Facebook after March 2022 shows the soldiers are still depicted as helpers in need, but also technical representations gain relevance. This can ease the society’s growing feeling of insecurity, because emphasizing technical aspects insinuates control (Shim & Stengel 2017). Finally, the visual self-representation of the Bundeswehr on Facebook equally addresses the attempt to avoid armed force and the attempt to maintain control in uncertain times.