As an American watching with dismay over the past five years or so, I can see some virtue in having a non-partisan head of state (realizing that that does not mean the Royal Family is beyond ideology). Not sure how that would work in our republic, but I feel like it would help with national unity during divisive political times.
Out of curiosity, how visible is the President of Germany in the media and everyday life? Are the doings of the President talked about and reported on? As an outsider from the United States, I'm aware that you have one, but they get almost no exposure here in the media. People here with a passing familiarity with international current events could probably tell you who the Chancellor of Germany is, but far fewer could name the President.
the president isn't very visible. Probably quite a few Germans who aren't politically interested couldn't tell you who holds the office. But nonetheless when there's big social disagreements, anything extremely divisive or a crisis the president usually will have something to say, to unify people somewhat. Ideally the president is sort of like the moral consciousness or representative of the country as a whole. Also it depends on the person. Gauck our last president who was a Lutheran Pastor was quite outspoken on moral questions or democratic issues and somewhat of a divisive figure, the current president is more of a former career politician and much less so.
Not very at all. Nobody talks about the president. The chancellor is who is viewed as the leader of the government, and who is talked about regularly. President is hardly mentioned - anecdotally, never.
