President Barack Obama spoke in Berlin this week. The event took place on June 19, the hottest day of the year so far. After weeks of heavy rains, the sun shone brightly. Not a cloud in the sky. Who could have guessed? He had to deliver his 30-minute open-air address, standing in the blazing sun, sans shade of any kind. Likewise, 4,500 guests sat on their folding chairs in the Pariser Platz, on the east side of the Brandenburg Gate. Temperatures had hit 92° and felt more like 97° in Berlin’s humid continental climate. No shade was to be had for speaker or guests.
Obama Spoke at Berlin’s Brandenburger Tor
Despite the intense heat and uncomfortable circumstances, Obama delivered a spirited talk. He covered the history of Berlin and Germany, referenced the milestone speeches of President John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, and touched upon climate change, renewable energy, International responsibility, and disarmament of nuclear weapons.
Later, some commentators suggested that Berliners must have “cooled” to President Obama because of the paltry attendance of a mere 4,500 guests. People, people come on. Be fair. It is true that Kennedy drew a crowd of 450,000 in Berlin in 1963, and Democratic candidate Obama attracted over 200,000 in 2008. But both spoke to the public at large, not to a limited number of invited guests. Times have changed. While Kennedy still drove through Berlin in an open limousine, today’s presidents are protected behind bulletproof glass. Besides, President Obama was to deliver his address to 6,000 guests, many of them up in years. Do you blame the 1,500 who chose not expose themselves to the relentless heat? The small number of attendees at President Obama’s June 19 speech is hardly proof that his popularity in Berlin is waning. Maybe it is, but please people, use real, not manufactured, facts to argue the point.
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Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
