Speeches & Texts
As prepared for delivery.
Presentation of the Fall 2011 Fellows at the American Academy
Berlin, September 15, 2011
Ambassador Philip D. Murphy
Thank you, Pamela.
Gary, as always, it is a pleasure to be back at the Hans Arnhold Center.
meine sehr verehrten Damen und Herren,
es ist mir eine Freude und Ehre, heute Abend bei Ihnen zu sein. Ich möchte diese Gelegenheit nutzen, um den Mitarbeitern und Freunden der American Academy für ihren Einsatz für die deutsch-amerikanischen Beziehungen zu danken.
(It is a pleasure and a privilege to join you this evening. I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to thank the staff and the friends of the American Academy for all that they do in support of a strong German-American relationship.)
The Academy has come to be a very special place for both Tammy and me – associated with very some special memories. Unfortunately, when we first arrived in 2009, Tammy missed the first Fall Fellows presentation. After I reported back what a fascinating evening it had been, we make sure that our schedules are free for the Fellows’ presentation. No matter what. And so, as a result, this evening, meet our house guests. We brought them along and promised them a great evening. And I know that the Fellows of Fall 2011 will not disappoint them or us.
Apart from memories of evenings of stimulating discussion and, of course, our wonderful 4th of July celebrations which the Academy so graciously co-hosts, we also, of course, associate the American Academy with Richard Holbrooke.
In the months after his death, many people around Germany told me what Dick Holbrooke meant to them. Anybody who knew Dick could not help but be touched by the force and the vitality of his character. The strongest, most meaningful memory I have of him was our first meeting. It was in October 1993, the evening before he officially presented his credentials as Ambassador of the United States of America to the Federal Republic of Germany to the then President, Richard von Weizsaecker. The Atlantik Brücke had arranged a dinner in Bonn in his honor. It was an evening I will never forget.
I remember how inspired I was by the strength of the commitment and the breadth of the vision of our new Ambassador – and by his vitality and his energy. I never dreamed that one day I would follow in his footsteps. I continue to be inspired by his example.
And I respect and admire the Academy because it is a living symbol of his vitality, energy, commitment and vision. It sets an example to all those who value the partnership between Germany and the United States. All of us, within our own distinct functions, can strengthen and add to the richness of the German-American relationship in this new century.
Every day, Tammy and I are reminded of that richness every day when we look at the art on the walls of our Residence. It is normal procedure for U.S. Ambassadors to showcase American art to grace their official residences during their appointments. The State Department in Washington works with very well-known artists, collectors and galleries in the United States to make that possible, but Tammy and I thought it would be much more exciting to work with German galleries and collectors and with younger artists, Americans and Germans, who have lived in each other’s country. Actually it was more Tammy’s idea than mine but we both feel the rotating series of exhibits has been a great success.
The real success of our Art in Residence exhibits has been, of course, due to the support and commitment of the artists who went along with this idea, as well as their dealers and collectors. We have worked with the DAAD and most recently with the American Academy on the current exhibit, which bears the title Internal/External Affairs. It highlights intercultural dialogue. It shows how an exchange of ideas can contribute to mutual understanding and inspire new forms of creativity. In the case of the exhibit, it is the language of art and painting that extends beyond cultural, geographical and, certainly, beyond political borders, but that concept works in other areas as well.
For example – with music. This past Sunday, along with people across America and around the world, here in Berlin we commemorated the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Music played an enormous role at all of the events in which the Embassy was involved and the intervals between the notes were magic.
At the American Church in Berlin-Schöneberg, we held an interfaith service. Among the members of that congregation are some amazingly talented people and alongside President Wulff and Minister Westerwelle and Minister Friedrich, we were treated to the most moving rendition of Amazing Grace that I have ever heard.
Later in the afternoon, Mayor Wowereit co-hosted a memorial ceremony at the Rotes Rathaus. At the opening of the ceremony, a string quarter from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra played as images of 9/11 were projected onto a screen behind the stage. I thought I had never heard a more beautiful piece of music in my entire life. It set the stage perfectly for the rest of the program. A brass quartet closed the program on an uplifting note, giving us all the impetus to go forward with our lives and to follow our dreams. Apart from the opening and closing pieces by the Orchestra and some remarks by the Mayor and me, the program was led by young people. For example, a group of young Muslims presented a ballad about tolerance and diversity that was utterly convincing – and most important, extremely authentic.
Later that evening, the entire Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra played at the Philharmonie. It was the final performance of their European tour and in some strange turn of fate, how lucky were we that that date coincided with 9/11? When guest soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter dedicated a Bach piece to the victims of the attacks, the evening was complete.
This tenth anniversary of 9/11 was all that we hoped it would be – a demonstration of the resilience of our communities, of the simple truths that we hold to be self-evident, and here in Germany, of our strong partnership.
And fall fellows of 2011, this is also what we expect of you; this is what Dick Holbrooke would have expected of you. He believed – and I agree – that each of us brings something special to the German-American relationship from which others can learn and profit. This is what has made our partnership so special in the past – and it is what will make our partnership important in the future. We live in a time of great change. We need to stay ahead of that change.
I encourage you to take every advantage of your time here in Berlin. Get out and get involved in the civic and intellectual life. Be careful though – some of last year’s fellows good naturedly complained that the ability of Fellows to attend rehearsals at the Philharmonie, thanks to a certain person’s former career, often made it difficult to get work done, and the Philharmonie is just one of the many temptations in Berlin.
In a tribute to Dick Holbrooke, Volker Schlöndorff described their adventures together in Berlin. Volker showed him and Kati Marton “his Berlin”: the Turkish corners of Kreuzberg, the old harbor in Wedding where the Edgar Wallace detective stories were filmed in the 1960s; the studios in Babelsberg; Tacheles in Mitte.
Volker is also our friend. One day Tammy and I plan to run a marathon with him – probably not the Berlin Marathon because we did that one last year. But one of these days, somewhere, sometime it will happen.
And like Dick and Kati, with a little help from friends – old and new, Tammy and I have also discovered some fascinating corners of Berlin and of Germany.
Although we lived in Frankfurt for many years in the 1990s, we have learned so much in Berlin and met so many fascinating and engaged people. The American Academy has played a huge part in that process. We already met several generations of fellows and be warned, class of 2011, we will try to pull you into our activities at the Embassy – I understand you’re visiting next Tuesday and meeting the Public Affairs staff.
This year again, we are truly amazed at the span of topics that are on the Academy’s agenda this fall. This is truly what the German-American relationship is all about and this is exactly what Ambassador Dick Holbrooke had in mind when he and Henry Kissinger founded the American Academy in 1994. That was an important time in the history of the transatlantic relationship.
Today we face challenges and changes that we could not have foreseen then. I am convinced, however, that when the definitive history of the early 21st century is written, say, perhaps, in the mid-century by a young historian or political scientist who has not yet even been born, the transatlantic relationship will certainly have changed and evolved in many important ways but it will still be a powerful force in the world.
I told you earlier about how I spent Sunday. In conclusion, let me tell you now about how I spent Monday, the day after 9/11. I had two fascinating discussions about globalization and global governance with two very different groups of people – the first, a group of idealistic but nevertheless pragmatic young experts in the field of development. They were Mercator Stiftung fellows and Dick Holbrooke would have loved them. The second group comprised members of the Hannover Industrie Club and regional members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany.
I talked with both groups about the future – about how the future would not only be about the “next big thing”; it would also be about capturing the world’s imagination. For decades, the “next big thing” in terms of technology has indeed come out of America or Europe And for centuries, much of the prevailing so-called global discourse has taken part in Western countries and been dominated by them. The West’s version of world history has influenced the global mass media, the film industry, the music industry, fashion, and virtually every other international narrative. The emergence of the internet, social media and cable television offers us a broader discourse but our large economies, strong military presences, proactive diplomatic initiatives, popular soft power and innovative technology, and, most important our willingness to engage with the world -- and the world’s willingness to engage with us -- will both challenge and enrich the special status of the transatlantic partnership fifty years from now.
That is part of both the legacy and the challenge of the American Academy. As incoming fellows, each of you has made that legacy and that challenge yours. I look forward to an interesting evening and one that offers through your work perhaps also a completely different perspective about the world we live in.
Vielen Dank für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit.