- Change - Berlin believes in -
Barack Obama pleases crowd in Germany
Berlin. 7 pm in Berlin, Germany. People flock to one of the most famous monuments in Germany: the Column of Victory. And the reason of this enthusiasm is a senator of Illinois, the candidate of the democrats for the upcoming presidential election.
The announcement, that the American politician will come to Berlin and deliver a speech, mobilated thousands of people to come to Berlin to hear Obama speak.
With the Brandenburg Gate in the back and the view on to the Column of Victory the visitors waited excited. Two Bands played in the run-up to the speech and tried to shorten the time for the waiting people. Some of them came four hours before Obama starts to speak.
When he entered the stage the applause resounded loudly and chants called "Obama, Obama!". The designated candidate of the democrats Barack Obama campaigned for a new relationship between Europe and the United States of America. During his speech at the Column of Victory, one of the famous sights in Berlin, he claimed: "We have to build new bridges!" The partnership between the global citizens is based on the burdens, the nations have to lift together.
Europe is the best partner for the United States, he said in front of 215,000 people. The charismatic politician elated the crowd, because he drew lines to the history. He remembered his audience on the time of the Cold War, when the strong partnership between the USA and Germany helped to tear down the wall, which seperated Western and Eastern Germany since 1961.
But Barack Obama did not directly speak to the Berlin crowd, he looked into the cameras which televised the speech to the American broadcast stations. After half an hour of speaking Obama said "Good-Bye" to the Berlin citizens, took a bath in the crowd - closely guarded by the security.
An expensive procedure which costed about 400,000 US-Dollar. The German police maintained a lot of presence we recognized during our trip to Berlin. His hotel, the "Adlon", was guarded day and night by nearly 50 police- and securitymen.
A suspicious parcel addressed to the senator's suite caused a lot of trouble: The hotel was shut and the parcel was investigated - but at least found harmless: It was Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope" which was sent by a fan who wanted Obama to sign it for him - addtionally he sent 15 US-Dollars with the book so Obama can send it back to him - we think he didn't.
Nevertheless, Berlin was in love with the senator of Illinois: The Obamamania started in America and reached the German citizens. His appearance, presence and his charisma made the people wear buttons, T-Shirts and basecaps - waving flags saying: "Change we can believe in". Parallels were drawn to the visits of former American presidents even though he's "just" a designated candidate.
Berlin felt like American citizens, they felt that Obama could turn America's controversial situation around to a better one.
"Change we can believe in" isn't just a phrase - it's a fact that Berlin believes in, it's Obama's will to change that we believe in.
