Annual National Convention of the Federation of German-American Clubs
Würzburg, May 15, 2009
Chargé d'Affaires John M. Koenig

As prepared for delivery.

Lord Mayor Rosenthal,
Dr. Beinhofer,
Professor Eskin,
Annette, Frau Driehaus, members and friends of the Federation of German-American Clubs,

It is again an honor and a privilege to attend your national meeting. We met many of you for the first time in Hamburg in August 2006. We had just arrived and your convention was the first official public event we attended. Unfortunately, the G8 in Heiligendamm prevented us from attending the meeting in Heidelberg in June 2007. 

And, of course, last year you centered your annual meeting on the Amerikafest at the Brandenburg Gate. You sent out an invitation to Berliners and people across Germany to join us in celebrating the opening of our new Embassy in Berlin. That event will remain one of the most memorable moments of my career in the Foreign Service. The last time I had served in Germany, it was a divided country. From my posting at the Embassy in East Berlin back in the early 1980s, it was very hard to imagine that one day 300,000 people would celebrate the strength and vitality of the German-American partnership at the Brandenburg Gate. Thank you all again for your enormous initiative in hosting the Amerikafest.

Natalie and I will be leaving Germany in the summer so this annual convention is the last time we will attend a Federation meeting in this capacity. Annette, you and many others have become friends. I know we will see each other again. Because there is one constant in the German-American relationship: the importance of friendships and people-to-people connections. Both President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are investing unprecedented amounts of time and energy in public diplomacy - through town hall meetings like the one President Obama held last month in Strasbourg with German and French students but also through new Internet-based social networking tools. But what public diplomacy is really all about is engaging in dialogue, in talking and even more important listening. That is why we are so happy to be here this weekend.

There is a new commitment and optimism in the transatlantic relationship - despite the ongoing, very serious challenges on our shared agenda. I know that with the support of organizations such as the Federation of German-American Clubs with its strong emphasis on exchanges, we can, in the words of President Barack Obama, "renew our relationship for a new generation, in a new century." Each one of you truly makes a difference. Here's to you and the positive contribution the German-American Clubs make to enhance international respect, understanding, and communication. Thank you.