In Italy they say: Germans love Italy, but don't respect it.
The Italians, on the other hand, respect Germany, but don't love it.
Angela Merkel is an exception, she may not be loved, but she is really liked.
And this is an easy way of explaining the pleasingly large crowd that evening in Milan.
The guests: mostly women, type in a good mood and dressed expensively.
The place: the time-honored Manzoni Theater, just a few steps away from La Scala.
The occasion: the event “Women, Leadership, Dignity, Rights”, to which the Milanese jewelry house Pomellato invited.
Massimo Nava, long-time editor of the daily Corriere della Sera, will present his recently published, highly acclaimed biography: "Angela Merkel: The woman who changed history".
The disillusionment at the entrance: Angela Merkel, about whom Nava writes so cleverly, is not the only bait for this donation evening in favor of a women's shelter.
Pomellato is giving away five pieces from his collection, says the hostess, she doesn't even need to explain that to the other women.
Merkel and expensive accessories
The political evening is in reality a raffle, the beautiful image of the popularity of the Chancellor in upscale Italian circles is in a lopsided position like the Tower of Pisa. A look around: Are there perhaps those present for whom spirit and glitter are equally important? Is that even possible: Merkel and accessories? Certainly, the Chancellor likes to wear necklaces - by her favorite designer from the Hunsrück. But Milan is not Idar-Oberstein, and Pomellato is a luxury brand that only has a weary smile left for Merkel's beloved amber.
While Nava says something about Merkel's political sophistication and her instinct for power on the stage, thoughts wander, they revolve around the ticket in her handbag. An online search on the cell phone in the semi-darkness of the room shows that a few simple ear studs from Pomellato cost 3500 euros. The mobile phone also reveals that the necklaces are very pretty to look at, they are easily worth three times as much. Before you could scroll all the way through the jewelry company's online shop, Nava's speaking time is over.
Senator Emma Bonino can now be seen on the huge screen, which takes up the entire stage space, switched on from her apartment in Rome.
She liked Angela Merkel very much from the start, says the seventy-three-year-old and takes a leisurely puff on a cigarette: For example, the Chancellor's insistence on the cut of her jackets always the same, the short hair, her impressive physicality - all of this is so very different from in Italy, where women are still expected to fulfill stereotypical femininity.
A little is told about the women's shelter to be supported and generous donations are asked for.
Then, finally, the drawing of the five tickets: there is cheering somewhere in the hall.
The winners are different.