After 70 years, the United States has re-opened its embassy in Berlin – and despite local complaints about the architecture – Germans are taking it – along with the impending arrival of Barack Obama – as a sign of renewal. As Jochim Stoltenberg puts it in this article from the Berliner Morganpost, its an opportunity to renew German-American relations and for the United States to ‘leave behind the anti-terrorist fortress that was forced upon it’ after September 11.
“America’s reputation and appeal has suffered badly in recent years. That was due to political as well as military decisions that have been taken – and of course, a president whose sense of mission and often radical rhetoric was unsettling to many Germans. … From this embassy a message must be sent forth – having nothing to do with its disputed architecture: America is leaving behind the anti-terrorist fortress that was forced upon it, is opening itself up again, is displaying its flag in Germany again and is aggressively promoting understanding of its role as last superpower.”
By Jochim Stoltenberg
Translated By Ulf Behncke
July 5, 2008
Germany – Berliner Morganpost – Original Article (German)
With a large public festival in and around the new embassy at its historic location at Pariser Platz, American has once again opened the square to Berliners. After years of isolation behind concrete blocks and barbed-wire fences, the Western superpower is once again flying its flag in Berlin and has resumed its place at the heart of the city between the Brandenburg Gate and the “Adlon” [the Adlon Hotel, a landmark that has been at that location since 1907]. It is high time.
America’s reputation and appeal has suffered badly in recent years. That was due to political as well as military decisions that have been taken – and of course, a president whose sense of mission and often radical rhetoric was unsettling to many Germans. The result has been an alarming cooling in relations with the United States. Not so much because of the country or the people themselves, and certainly not due to any difference over shared values like freedom, democracy and human rights. But most emphatically because of the man who has been President for the past eight years and his administration. It is essential that the United States win back its lost credibility.
The new embassy alongside the Brandenburg Gate, precisely where the Berlin Wall once stood and divided Germany and Europe, is the ideal place for this. It symbolizes the victory of freedom over dictatorship and oppression. It reminds us that what seems impossible – is possible – when the goal (such as reunification) is doggedly pursued and one has reliable allies (America) at one’s side.
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