Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends of Germany:
A warm welcome to you all!
My wife Iris and I are very glad that you
have found the time
to celebrate the Day of German Unity with us.
I hope, you all had a great Friday in the
spirit of the 24th anniversary of German
reunification!
I am particularly grateful that so many of our
Jewish friends have joined us tonight.
I hope you had a good Yom Kippur!
L’Shanah Továh to you and
G’már Chatimáh Továh May you be inscribed in the book of life!
Tonight, we remember with gratitude the support
we received from our American friends over the
last seven decades. Seventy years ago, brave young
men landed in Normandie to bring freedom and
democracy to Europe. Only 3 years after the war,
American airmen flew over 200,000 flights in one
year, supplying 2 million Berliners with food, fuel,
and everything else they needed to survive.
Fifteen years later, in 1963, John F. Kennedy came
to Berlin, and every single German knows his famous
words “I take pride in saying: Ich bin ein Berliner”,
expressing support for the city in its stance against
communism.
In 1987, it was Ronald Reagan saying another
historic sentence: Mr. Gorbachov, tear down this wall!”
And finally, in 1989, shortly after East Germany
had celebrated its 40th birthday with a huge
military parade in East Berlin, history unfolded in a
long desired, though completely unexpected, direction:
We still cherish those most emotional and moving
scenes on that night of November 9th, a quarter of a
century ago, when the whole world was watching.
We are grateful for a number of things:
- grateful that all this was finally possible
through a peaceful revolution, only through
the power of the people!
- grateful for the longest period of peace in the
history of Europe.
- we are grateful and humble that today, for
the first time after hundreds of years, Germany
is surrounded by friends only, living jointly in a
unified and free Europe.
- and we are grateful that America is our closest
friend and partner when it comes to standing
up for our common values: freedom,
democracy, the rule of law, and respect for one
another.
In today’s world with too many conflicts and
challenges, it is even more important to rely on
close friends and allies that share the same
values! Thank you for your friendship!
In a few days from now, we will be able to
celebrate an outstanding anniversary:
Twenty-five years ago, in a truly historic night
on November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall
came down:
And finally, the symbol of the partition of
Berlin - of Germany - of Europe - and the
whole world, turned into a synonym for the
end of the Cold War.
We will celebrate this day with all our friends
in Florida and I am going to hand over an
original segment of the Berlin Wall to the
Mayor of Miami. It will be placed at the main
entrance of Miami Dade College and it will
remind us every single day that change and
reconciliation are possible without shedding
a single drop of blood.
Please mark your calendars and join us for a
joyful celebration on that Sunday afternoon!
The first 600 guests will receive a
complimentary t-shirt to form a human flag
in the German colors!
My warm thanks go to you, my dear friends
Mayor Regalado and to you, Dr. Padrón,
President of Miami Dade College, for making
this event possible.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Florida is a truly wonderful state and, as
everybody knows, Germans in particular feel
very much at home here (such as we do!) –
or they come in droves to spend their holidays
in the sunshine state.
But there is a lot more: Florida is a vibrant
place for international trade, logistics, new
knowledge-based industries, science and
technology.
With its intercultural flair, South Florida is
the gateway to the Americas. And I promise
tonight that Germany will continue to support
you in your efforts to make this place a
global city and a global hub!
Let me just mention a few examples:
We are following the development of Port
Miami; German companies contribute
significantly to landmark infrastructure
projects like “All Aboard Florida”; and we are
proud that German shipyards continue to build
the flagships of cruiselines - those wonderful
ships I am priviledged to observe turning in
our harbor basin more or less right in front
of my office.
Now you all know what I am doing
all day long!
Dear Friends,
My team at the Consulate I look forward
to further working with you to support your
goals and to accompany Florida on its way
to a bright future.
Please welcome a new member of my staff
at the Consulate, Mr. Andreas Marschhausen
and his wife Annett.
And finally let me warmly thank our friends
for their wonderful performance of the
national anthems, Professor Robert Dundas,
and Ms. Vindhya Khare, both of the School
of Music at Florida International University.
Special thanks go to our music band “Solstice”
with Karla Gutierrez.
Lee Neujahr and Kurt Freiter, thank you for
a special treat: Hofbräu Beer for tonight AND
for our happy party on 9 November!
And now let us raise our glasses and drink to
our friendship, our mutual well-being and:
on the Day of German Unity.