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United States opens new embassy in Berlin [4th of July]
The Earth Times ^
| Fri, 04 Jul 2008
| DPA
Posted on 07/04/2008 2:02:45 PM PDT by wolf78
Berlin - The United States opened a monumental new embassy in Berlin on Friday, returning the diplomats to their rightful place, 67 years after Washington declared war on the Nazis. Former US president George HW Bush, the ambassador to Germany William Timken, and his wife Sue Timken together cut a ribbon to symbolically let VIP guests enter the 130-million-dollar chancery.
The multi-storey building occupies a commanding site between the Holocaust Memorial and Brandenburg Gate.
US diplomats had left the site in 1941. During the decades of communism, the empty land had been part of a desolate no-man's land along the Berlin Wall. After the Wall fell in 1989, wrangles over anti-terrorist barriers held up reconstruction for many years.
At the celebrations, German Chancellor Angela Merkel recalled how late US president Ronald Reagan had once stood up nearby and appealed to the Soviet Union's last communist leader in Moscow: "Mr Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
(Excerpt) Read more at earthtimes.org ...
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Germany; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: berlin; bush; embassy; germany
Former U.S. President George Bush with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday
Bush together with Ambassador Timken and his wife.
The neighborhood: The British, French, Hungarian, Polish and Russian embassy, as well as the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial and the Reichstag.
View with the Brandenburg Gate
View from the Holocaust Memorial, with the Reichstag building in the background.
1
posted on
07/04/2008 2:02:46 PM PDT
by
wolf78
To: wolf78
I didn't realize a Holocaust memorial was built Berlin. Good to see.
Wow, GHW Bush has lived a hell of a cool life.
2
posted on
07/04/2008 2:13:46 PM PDT
by
stravinskyrules
(Why is it that whenever I hear a piece of music I don't like, it's always by Villa-Lobos?)
To: stravinskyrules
It always amazes me how good Bush the elder looks - especially compared to when he left office.
I think not being re-elected may have saved his life.
To: wolf78
At the celebrations, German Chancellor Angela Merkel recalled how late US president Ronald Reagan had once stood up nearby and appealed to the Soviet Union's last communist leader in Moscow: "Mr Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" I heard one of Reagan's speechwriters tell about how many aides (especially State Department ones) tried to remove that statement from the speech. Quite possibly the statement by Reagan most likely to be remembered throughout history, and the State Department wanted to remove it. It would be like advising Lincoln to tone down the Gettysburg address and dump that old fashioned "four score and seven years" phrasing.
4
posted on
07/04/2008 2:26:16 PM PDT
by
KarlInOhio
(Whale oil: the renewable biofuel for the 21st century.)
To: stravinskyrules
The monument consists of a 'field of stalae'.
I saw it after completion but before it officially opened, and honestly couldn't make heads or tails of it.
5
posted on
07/04/2008 2:29:39 PM PDT
by
skeeter
To: All
More pictures from the 4th of July party:
Pariser Platz
Corporate sponsorship ;)
Surprise rain
The party continues inside the embassy
Bush with Merkel, quite the gentleman
Brandenburg Gate in the background
Sue Timken, Ambassador William Timken and the Chancellor
Speech
Celebrity guests: German intelligence chief Uhlau
German foreign minister Steinmeier
His predecessor, Joschka Fischer
Dressing for the occasion
Aerial view.
Red, white, blue and the Brandenburg Gate quadriga
Ribbon cutting.
Ribbon cut.
Porcellain eagle.
6
posted on
07/04/2008 2:49:48 PM PDT
by
wolf78
To: wolf78
Looks like a one star motel.
7
posted on
07/04/2008 2:59:23 PM PDT
by
Jabba the Nutt
(Friends don't let friends buy into Dem propaganda.)
To: wolf78
Ahhhhhhhhhhh, isn't it cute how Ambassador Timken and Bush dressed alike for the occasion?
8
posted on
07/07/2008 4:11:43 AM PDT
by
tuckrdout
(The good man wins his case by careful argument; the evil-minded only wants to fight. Prov. 13:2)
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