Obamania sweeps through Germany
Germany is all abuzz today as Obama prepares to speak in Berlin. He is on the cover of magazines such as Der Spiegel and Stern. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung is chronicling his every move throughout the day. The televised pre-game show began hours ago.
He will be speaking in front of the Siegessäule, a good 2 km away from the Brandenburger Gate, his first choice of venue. This move was supposedly to appease Merkel, who was not happy with Obama’s first location choice. As much as I love Obama, I too found myself questioning the idea of this speech. Presidential performances in Berlin are the stuff of legends, but Obama isn’t exactly president yet. Why is he trying to trick me into believing he is?
Regardless of my initial skepticism, today I find myself eagerly anticipating this evening’s speech. I hope it will be gorgeous. Legendary, even.
Earlier this afternoon a reporter in Berlin asked his interviewee, “So, what’s the German sentence going to be?” Good question, no? “Ich bin ein Berliner” has already been taken. “Ja, wir können” seems a little too obvious. So what do you think it should be?
ETA (18:45): Wow, look at that crowd! I do believe that it extends all the way to the Brandenburger Gate itself…
ETA (19:14): The crowd is estimated at 100,000 or more. The German commentators keep saying how surprised they are that this reception is for a politician (and an American one at that) and not a rock star.
ETA (20:02): Loved it. It’s hard to decide which channel’s commentary to watch (the speech was on at least 6). We watched the speech itself on CNN to avoid the simultaneous translation.
