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Ambassador Scharioth Speaks at Annual Wolf Trap Ball
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- Brandenberg Gate backdrop at event entrance
- (© Jeff Taylor)
The 2009 Wolf Trap Ball celebrated 20 years of Freedom Without Walls with Ambassador Klaus Scharioth as a guest of honor and keynote speaker on Saturday, September 12.
Germany served as the theme country of the biggest social event of the season at the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia.
Proceeds from the Ball benefit the Foundation's renowned arts and education programs, including the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, a nationwide and international program that uses the performing arts disciplines of drama, music and movement to help teach literacy and other academic and social skills to disadvantaged children.
"We would have accepted this invitation for any year, but we are particularly appreciative that the choice fell on us for the 2009 event," said Ambassador Scharioth, addressing hundreds of elegantly attired guests assembled inside the magnificent stage at Wolf Trap's Filene Center, which was transformed into a magical German-themed venue for the evening featuring a 40-foot reconstructed segment of the "Berlin Wall" and decor from furnishings to table linens highlighting the black, red and gold colors of the German flag. Guests dined on a German-inspired menu that included venison, cooked red cabbage and Spätzle, a type of egg dumpling.
"For 2009 is a very special year for all of us gathered here tonight ... It marks two important anniversaries – two events that are 40 years apart, yet both represent the essence of what Germany is and what it stands for today: democracy and freedom!" he exclaimed.
The ambassador recalled the birth, 60 years ago, in May, 1949 of Germany's Basic Law, or Grundgesetz, the "birth certificate" of postwar democracy in Germany and "the best constitution Germany ever had!"
He also cited the second major event Germany is celebrating this year - the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.
"Though 40 years apart, both historic events are linked. Without a firm root for its young democracy, the Federal Republic would have not enjoyed political stability and flourished economically. Without the rule of law, respect for the inalienable political rights of the individual as enshrined in our Basic Law, the dream of freedom and selfdetermination would not have prevailed in all of Germany," said Scharioth.
"And it would not have prevailed without the steadfast and unfaltering support of our American friends for freedom and democracy in Berlin, in Germany and in the whole of Europe through the four decades of the Cold War," he added.
"Today, Berlin is once again the vibrant capital of an undivided Germany and a fascinating metropolis in the heart of Europe. We Germans remember the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall with a sense of deep gratitude," said Ambassador Scharioth, who was applauded by the audience for his heartfelt expression of thanks to a great ally.
"And there is no better place to celebrate this important event than here in the United States together with our American friends, to whom my country owes so much."
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