Posted on 07/20/2008 11:41:22 AM PDT by Kaslin
Barack Obama's campaign said Sunday he will give a speech on the future of trans-Atlantic relations in front of a Prussian war monument in downtown Berlin _ in view of the historic Brandenburg Gate.
The announcement that he will speak at the Victory Column, or Siegessaeule, ended weeks of speculation here. It also triggered criticism that the 226-foot column built in 1873 to celebrate Prussian war victories over Denmark, Austria and France was an inappropriate choice.
One of Berlin's best-known monuments, the column is topped by a golden, winged figure representing Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory. It stood in front of Germany's parliament building, the Reichstag, until the late 1930s when Adolf Hitler's architect Albert Speer moved it to its current location in the middle of the Tiergarten park as part of uncompleted plans for a grandiose remake of the capital.
"I ask myself whether Obama was well advised to choose the Siegessaeule as a place for a speech on his vision for global cooperation," Rainer Bruederle of the opposition Free Democrats was quoted as telling the Bild am Sonntag weekly.
Since German reunification, the column has become known as the central location for Berliners to party.
At the other end, about a mile away, is Pariser Platz square and the Brandenburg Gate. Obama had wanted to give the speech there, but Chancellor Angela Merkel quashed the idea.
She defended her criticism of that location on Sunday, telling ARD television that the Brandenburg Gate _ the backdrop for speeches by Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton _ is linked to U.S. presidents.
"If the candidate _ or any other candidate _ is elected, then (he) is welcome to speak as president before the Brandenburg Gate," Merkel said, indicating that Obama's Republican rival for the presidency, Sen. John McCain, would be equally welcome.
Merkel declined, however, to comment on the Siegessaeule, saying only that "the team has made its decision and that will be approved and now we will take this location for what it is."
Obama was in Afghanistan on Sunday as part of a tour abroad that also will take him to Iraq and the Middle East. After speaking in Berlin on Thursday he is to visit France and England.
I'm pretty sure he doesn't even deserve to be that close.
Der Obamaführer will declare himself to be a jelly donut.
Ich bin ein flip-flopper.
He's gonna claim he's from Vienna? (switch the i and e and it works, otherwise you're talking about a city in Arkansas)
Since we already know he will speak at the astoundingly ugly Siegessaeule and it is nowhwere near the Brandenburg Gate, the article is kind of out of touch.
I think that Obama should speak at the reviewing platform on Red Square. Putin and Obama like each other, so I am quite sure that this could be arranged.
perhaps Barry could give a little “speechify’in” at Hitler’s grave
sh*t! , .. most tourists that know how to probe , without being offensive , can be steered to The Parking Area {{*snicker*}}
...but he’s not an Oscar Meyer.
If one could create an image on the web (I can’t).
1. Obama presidential seal replaces winged angel on column top.
2. Obama at base wearing a Prussian helmet ,
The reason it's 226 feet tall is because Hitler and the Nazis had a special affection for the monument, and increased the size of it to make it more grandiose.
But Obama likes grandiose.
Krauthammer nailed it when he said Obama's only accomplishments are the two books he wrote about his favorite subject ----himself.
Ich bin ein kartoffelsalat!
With 300 foreign policy advisors, you’d think Obambi could avoid dopey mistakes like this. Maybe he needs 3,000 advisors.
As Ron White would say: “Sie rufen mich ‘toffelsalat an”
My wife tells me the victory column (Siegessaeule) is also the local gay pride symbol.
Hopefully alot of Freepers will read and send to and educate their friends on the sheer immorality and disgusting character of this alleged nominee to the highest office in the land!
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