Potsdamer Gesellschaft

December 1, 2009

Potsdam
Ambassador Philip D. Murphy

Minister Schönbohm, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Bellar, Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, I would like to congratulate you on this wonderful new initiative.  International educational exchanges are the best bridges we can build to connect people.  They are bridges of respect and understanding. 

The United States established diplomatic relations with the German Democratic Republic in September 1974. The goal of the first Ambassador in East Berlin was to “start a conversation” – to engage in meaningful dialogue with the GDR government but also to establish a more comprehensive image of the United States in the eyes of a wider public audience.  As one of the millions of Germans who grew up in East Germany, Chancellor Merkel was part of that larger public audience.  As a young girl the Chancellor was fascinated by America.  She was passionate about the vast American landscape which seemed to breathe the very spirit of freedom and independence.   In 1990 she and her husband traveled to America, to California.  As a teenager, she certainly never dreamed that she would one day address the U.S. Congress, as she did last month.  Her overview of the opportunities and challenges that define German-American relations today, framed in the context of her own personal story, is telling.  Thank you very much for making more such voyages of discovery possible. 

The United States is proud to be a part of the ongoing process of integration and development that followed reunification.  There are a number of landmark events in the history of postwar German-American relations -- but until the late 1980s, in fact, that history was incomplete.  For the most part, Americans were exposed to only a part of Germany.  And not all Germans were exposed to America.  As a result, some in the new German states might recognize the importance of the transatlantic relationship, but not feel included in those special bonds of friendship and partnership.  We believe that these bonds do indeed extend to all parts of the Federal Republic, old and new.  We are happy to see that they are being developed through initiatives such as the Potsdamer Gesellschaft.

The history of where we have been is part of the vision of where we are going.  The work of the Potsdamer Gesellschaft represents a synthesis of the best of those ideas.  On behalf of the Embassy, I commend you and thank you for your initiative and engagement.