Opening of Amerikafest
Berlin, Pariser Platz, July 5, 2008
Chargé d’affaires John M. Koenig
As prepared for delivery.
Governing Mayor Wowereit,
Ms. Thor,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honor for me to join you today in opening this Volksfest, this Amerikafest, to celebrate the friendship between the United States and Germany and between Americans and Germans.
This is the right place to celebrate our shared history, our present friendship, and our common dreams. Our history on Pariser Platz goes way back. John Quincy Adams opened America's first diplomatic representation to Prussia in 1797 over at Pariser Platz One. He later went on to be the sixth president of the United States. The United States acquired the Palais Bluecher at Pariser Platz Two in 1931. We moved out in 1941; now we've moved back in at the same address.
Last night, the US Embassy celebrated our return to Pariser Platz. When I first served in Berlin in the 1980's, the site of the Embassy was in the no man's land between the Walls, and we were trying to swap it for a piece of land on which to build a new Embassy to the GDR. Our presence in the center of the city was inconvenient to the East German authorities, who wanted to move us to the outskirts of town. We never reached a deal. Later, after reunification and the German decision to move the capital to Berlin, this location at the center was deemed by many to be inconvenient, for somewhat different reasons, and there was pressure once again to move out of the center. I would like to salute the vision and determination of those who brought us back to Pariser Platz.
This square as you see it today, at the center of a reunited Berlin and at the heart of a Europe whole, free, and at peace, represents a German dream fulfilled. It is also the fulfillment of an American dream. There are great Germans forever associated with the drama of Cold War Berlin -- Ernst Reuter, Konrad Adenauer, Willy Brandt. And Great Americans -- Lucius Clay, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan. For Germans, this is hallowed ground, and so it also is for Americans. It's good to be back home.
We would not be here today if brave Germans and Americans had not decided 60 years ago that Berlin, and Germany, must not fall under the Soviet yoke. Many of us are too young to remember those dramatic events, so we celebrate the anniversaries to keep their lessons alive:
- Last month, in June, the 60th anniversary of the currency reform, which launched Germany’s social market economy and enabled the future Federal Republic to take part in the Marshall Plan;|
- Last week, the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Airlift, the largest air supply operation in history and a decisive step in creating a bridge of friendship and solidarity between Americans and Germans;
- Next year, the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Federal Republic and the lifting of the Soviet blockade.
Today we also celebrate another event 60 years ago -- the foundation of the German-American Clubs. Like the Candy Bombers, the men and women who founded the German-American Clubs transcended suspicion with trust and transformed enemies into friends. And they continue to do so today. I want to thank Annette Thor, personally, for her vision in organizing today's event, and for her courage. And I thank the Federationand all the Clubs for the friendship and support you gave generations of Americans, especially American service men and women. We will remain forever friends, to be joined by new generations of Americans and Germans.
On behalf of the US Embassy in Berlin and Mission Germany, I would like to wish all of you – all of us – a wonderful Amerikafest.