Ambassador Scharioth, do you remember November 9, 1989?  Where were you and what were you doing?

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Thousands of revelers clambered up the Berlin Wall to celebrate its demise in November 1989.

(© picture-alliance/dpa)

At that time, I was at the United Nations in New York.  I watched the images of the fall of the wall together with my family that night on television – we were overjoyed and hugged each other.  The next morning, it was the major topic on the sidelines of my committee, the UN legal committee.  And then at a luncheon with high-ranking guests from Europe, I stunned everyone with my prediction that now the issue of the unification of Germany and Europe would be back on the agenda.

Do you have memories of when the Berlin Wall was built?

Yes, I remember it very well.  We were on vacation in Schleswig-Holstein.  It was a gray day, and my father was listening to the radio the entire day, sad and depressed.  His mother, brother, and sister lived in the East.  We knew exactly what building of the wall meant.

In 1987, President Reagan stood before Brandenburg Gate and called out: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"  Did you consider that realistic?

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US President Ronald Reagan visited Berlin on its 750th anniversary in 1987, where he delivered a rousing speech. He is flanked by German Chancellor Helmut Kohl (r) and West Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen (l).

(© picture-alliance/dpa)

Honestly speaking, no, at least not in the then foreseeable future.  But with that statement, President Reagan showed that Americans were standing by Germany.  The American President called on the new Secretary General of the Soviet Communist Party – Gorbachev had only been in power two years – to now follow his pronouncements of perestroika with action.  And he did it at a place which, like no other, documented the Cold War and the absurdity of the division of Europe: in the middle of Berlin, at the Brandenburg Gate.  That was important encouragement.  Just as important as President Kennedy’s famous words in 1963, "Ich bin ein Berliner."

When the wall fell and you saw the images of people rejoicing in Berlin, did you think that it would lead to German unity?  After all, there was NATO and the Warsaw Pact, and the two parts of Germany had entirely different systems.

When the wall came down, it was clear to me that the Germans would come together again.  The way forward, the form, and the timetable – all that had yet to be negotiated, and we all knew that it would not be easy and that we would need the assistance of our friends and partners.  But after the wall came down, I staunchly believed that the people would no longer settle for a divided country.

What does the fall of the wall and German unity mean for German-American relations?

The fall of the wall would have been utterly inconceivable without U.S. support in the decades following 1945 – the Marshall Plan, CARE packages, thousands of GIs who were stationed in Germany over the decades, cooperation in NATO and security guarantees, and then the American engagement to end the Cold War, the support for German ostpolitik, and the close cooperation in formulating the CSCE Final Act in Helsinki in 1975, which only had made the peaceful revolution in the GDR, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia possible.  And ultimately in the restoration of German unity – my fellow Germans know that and are infinitely grateful.

In what capacity were you serving after the wall fell?

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Three former leaders - German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev and US President George Bush - who were instrumental in reuniting Germany, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall together in the German capital city, which also bestowed an honorary citizen award President Bush for his important role in the process.

(© picture-alliance/dpa)

Many at the Foreign Office eagerly worked virtually day and night toward the enormous goal of restoring German unity.  I was one of them.  I also had the enormous good fortune to be able to be at some of the so-called Two-Plus-Four Negotiations.  The Americans, British, French, and Russians jointly negotiated with what was then still two German delegations on how German unity could be designed in such a way that no new tensions would emerge in Europe and at the same time the Germans’ desire for freedom and unity could be met.  We went at it with a great deal of commitment and enthusiasm, worked endlessly on it; there was practically no spare time.  That I was able to be a part of that is certainly among the most satisfying moments of my professional life.  For we all knew back then that we were part of history being made.

How did American friends react to the news that the wall had fallen?  Did they congratulate you?  What do you remember?

Everyone called or came to congratulate me.  It was deeply moving to see that my American friends genuinely shared my joy over this great moment in history.  

How did your East German counterparts at the UN react?  Did you actually have closer contacts?  Did you perhaps celebrate together?

The responses varied greatly.  Many were closely bound up with the regime and worried about its future.  Others were secretly glad.

You have dedicated a great deal of your diplomatic life to transatlantic relations.  Twenty years ago, when the wall fell, you were in New York.  Twenty years later, you are ambassador to the United States.  How do you feel about that?

I feel an enormously close bond and also gratitude toward the United States.  German history had its terrible dark moments in the 20th century.  Fritz Stern once said, Germany got a second chance.  That we got this second chance is also to the enormous credit of the United States.  I will never forget that.

What does that mean for German-American relations.  Do they only consist of German gratitude?

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Chancellor Merkel and President Obama met in the Oval Office on Nov. 3, 2009.

(© dpa - Bildfunk)

Germany is grateful.  But gratitude is not the main category of politics.  German-American relations have a solid foundation in the past.  But our partnership is aimed at the future.  In her remarkable address before both houses of Congress on November 3, the German chancellor underscored the German desire to assume responsibility – as have all prior German governments.  Germany and Europe are ideal and indispensable partners of the United States.  Only together can we tear down the "walls of the 21st century": armed violence, regional conflicts, poverty and injustice, the challenge to the open society through extremist fundamentalists, the threats to our planet posed by climate change and the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.  President Obama has ushered in a new era of cooperation.  We are ready.

What is the most important insight you gained from the fall of the wall?

We must remain committed to the right goals, even if the barriers may long seem insurmountable.  The fall of the wall has shown that freedom ultimately prevails.  For the system of liberal democracy and the rule of law can best meet the needs of the people.  That gives us reason to be optimistic also about the future.  Things can always turn out well.  And if we work hard together, there is a good chance that they will.