Obama came to Berlin.

I have a co-worker who is a native of Berlin, Germany. She grew up in West Berlin during the time of Soviet control. She was about 10 years old when the “wall came down” – so she had a special perspective of Senator Barack Obama’s trip to Berlin last week.

Although we didn’t hear much about it from the US media – there was a serious controversy in Berlin leading up to Obama’s stay in the city. There was no problem with the Senator wanting to give a speech, but it was the location that gave a few Berliners pause.

Originally/Reportedly, the Obama campaign suggested that the speech be given outside of the Brandenburg Gate – the last remnant and symbol of the Berlin Wall – but there were many Berliners, my co-worker included, who were offended by this suggestion. They see the Gate as their symbol and not a “backdrop” for foreign politicians.

After, literally, weeks of public debate through the German media, the Obama Campaign chose an alternative site, stating that the Brandenburg Gate was just one of the possible venues, and that they did not want to cause controversy within the city (and the country).

So, on July 24th, Senator Obama gave a 25 minute (or so) speech in the shadow of the Victory Column in Tiergarten Park – to a crowd of 200,000.

In the wake of the controversy, I was interested to know what my co-worker thought of Obama, after hearing the speech. She was impressed. She said that he said “all the right things” to win over the “Citizens of Berlin.”

Below is a video of the speech.

Video Source: YouTube.com