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In order to make Europe strong again, we want to stick together even more closely on a large number of issues, to arrive at common positions and joint action - both internally and externally.
Our faith in Europe’s innovative abilities is also reflected in our Presidency logo with its distinctive Möbius strip – a strong band symbolising a united Europe.
The Möbius strip is the classic example of a single-sided surface in algebraic topology. It takes the form of a loop with only one edge and one side making it impossible to distinguish between the loop’s top and bottom or inside and outside.
Descriptions of the Möbius strip were first penned more than 160 years ago in 1858 when two German scientists discovered such single-sided surfaces independently from one another. The strip was named after one of them, August Ferdinand Möbius (1790-1868). Born in Leipzig, the mathematician and astronomer was the son of a dancing teacher and a descendant of Martin Luther. Carl Friedrich Gauss appointed him adjunct professor and later director of the Leipzig Observatory.
Today the Möbius strip is not only at home in the natural sciences. Famous depictions of the two-dimensional twisted loop can be found in the visual arts, films, video games and literature. In mathematical terms, the Möbius strip, in the form of an infinite loop, is a non-orientable manifold. No matter where you start and what direction you go, you always end up on the same side.
The strip symbolises an innovative and integrated Europe in which dialogue to reconcile differing interests creates what we share. A strong band symbolising a united Europe. A Europe rooted in a shared spirit of solidarity.
You can learn more about the creation of the logo for Germany's Presidency of the Council of the EU in the following film from the German Ministry of Finance.