![[Logo Auswärtiges Amt]](/images/logo.gif){kind=logo}
Ambassador Scharioth's Speech at the Wolftrap Ball
Dear Members of the Board of Directors of the Wolf Trap Foundation,
Dear Sponsors and Contributors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,
I am delighted to be with you tonight in this truly spectacular setting to take part in an event which is firmly established as one of the highlights in the social calendar of the nation’s capital.
It is a great honor for us that Germany has been chosen as the theme country for the 2009 Wolf Trap Ball. We would have accepted this invitation for any year, but we are particularly appreciative that the choice fell on us for the 2009 event.
For 2009 is a very special year for all of us gathered here tonight: Americans, Germans, friends from around the world. 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!
60 years ago, in May of 1949, a new constitution, the “Basic Law”, laid the foundation for Germany’s postwar democracy and its rise from self-inflicted total destruction and isolation during World War II to prosperity and a respected place in the family of nations. This Basic Law is the very birth certificate of the Federal Republic of Germany. Looking back at these years since its inception, we can say that it is the most successful and best constitution Germany ever had!
The second event is remembered and celebrated by many around the world, and its images have become part of the political iconography of the 20th century: the fall of the Berlin Wall.
20 years ago, the leadership of communist East Germany had to give way to the people that took to the streets and in a peaceful revolution demanded change, democratic rights and freedom. Less than a year later we Germans celebrated our reunification. And before long, Europe was united, too. Whole and free.
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.
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. 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. 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. We would like to use this joyous occasion to reflect on the strong bonds that link us across the Atlantic and on the need to further strengthen them in the face of the new global challenges that lie ahead, like climate change and energy security, proliferation of nuclear weapons, regional conflicts and fundamentalist extremism directed against our open societies. United in our purpose and our vision of hope and freedom, Germany and the United States can and will tackle these challenges together.
Tonight, we celebrate 20 years of “Freedom without Walls” together in this magnificent and truly enchanting setting created by the Wolf Trap Stage. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you who have made this event possible for the benefit of the Wolf Trap Educational Program and to those who worked so tirelessly to make it happen.
I wish us all a wonderful evening.
Thank you.
