The Real Germany: Private Courage vs. Political Paralysis
Tomorrow, a 79-year-old self-made multimillionaire will attempt what the entire machinery of the German state has refused to do for 16 days: give the humpback whale Timmy a genuine chance at life. Walter Gunz, founder of MediaMarkt, has mobilised private resources, experts and equipment to launch a coordinated rescue operation in the Wismarer Bucht. His initiative is not symbolic. It is practical, funded from his own pocket, and driven by the simple conviction that a sentient being in distress deserves every reasonable effort to be saved. This single act of private citizenship stands in stark contrast to the institutional failure orchestrated by Environment Minister Till Backhaus and the government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. For more than two weeks, official policy has been one of deliberate inaction: no further rescue attempts, no euthanasia, only the repeated mantra that Timmy should be left “to…







