Enlarge image President Obama presented Chancellor Merkel with the Medal of Freedom at a State Dinner on June 7. (© picture-alliance/dpa) US President Barack Obama presented German Chancellor Angela Merkel with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a State Dinner at the White House on Tuesday, June 7.

In his toast at the dinner, President Obama said Chancellor Merkel, who grew up in East Germany, was being honored not only for attaining freedom, but for what she achieved when she gained freedom. The President quoted Merkel’s words when she spoke to Congress two years ago: “Her words spoke not only to the dreams of that young girl in the East, but to the dreams of all who still yearn for their rights and dignity today:  to freedom, which ‘must be struggled for, and then defended anew, every day of our lives.’”

Chancellor Merkel said that standing in the White House Rose Garden and receiving the Medal of Freedom was beyond even her wildest dreams as a young person.

“I see the award of the Medal of Freedom as a testimony of the excellent German-American partnership,” Chancellor Merkel said at the State Dinner. The award is both incentive and encouragement.

Enlarge image In his toast, President Obama said Chancellor Merkel, who grew up in East Germany, was being honored not only for attaining freedom, but for what she achieved when she gained freedom. (© picture-alliance/dpa) “The yearning for freedom cannot be contained by walls for long,” she said in her remarks in the exchange of toasts. It is the yearning for freedom that brought down the Iron Curtain that divided Germany, Europe and the world into two blocks.

America stood resolutely on the side of freedom, Merkel said. “It is to this resolve that we Germans owe the unity of our country in peace and freedom.”

Freedom is indivisible, be it in North Africa or Belarus, in Myanmar or Iran

The yearning for freedom can even today make totalitarian regimes tremble. Germany is following with great empathy the profound changes in North Africa and the Arab world. “Freedom is indivisible,” Merkel said. “Each and every one has the same right to freedom, be it in North Africa or Belarus, in Myanmar or Iran.” Enlarge image Merkel called receiving the Medal of Freedom both incentive and encouragement. (© picture-alliance / dpa)

The Chancellor concluded her remarks with these words in English: “Neither the chains of dictatorship nor the fetters of oppression can keep down the forces of freedom for long.  This is my firm conviction that shall continue to guide me.  In this, the Presidential Medal of Freedom shall serve to spur me on and to encourage me.”

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is presented annually to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. The Chancellor is the second German head of government, after Helmut Kohl, to receive the award. With the highest civilian honor, the United States are recognizing Chancellor Merkel’s commitment to freedom and civil rights at the time of the fall of the wall and her efforts for German-American friendship.

Enlarge image Architect Daniel Libeskind (l), former soccer coach Juergen Klinsmann, Nina Lewis-Libeskind, entertainer Thomas Gottschalk and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle talk before the dinner. (© picture-alliance / dpa) The President and Michelle Obama hosted Chancellor Merkel and her husband, Joachim Sauer, for a State Dinner, which was held out of doors in the Rose Garden.  Among the many Germany and US dignitaries in attendance were the German delegation traveling with the Chancellor, including Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich and Economics Minister and Vice Chancellor Philipp Rösler.

According to the White House, the dinner for Germany celebrated the first harvest of the spring, with many of the vegetables and herbs coming from the White House Kitchen Garden created by the First Lady and planted by local school students.

While much of the menu–tuna from Hawaii, Maryland blue crabs, pecans from Georgia– highlighted American cuisine, the dessert was a nod to Germanic cuisine–apple strudel.

Entertainment included performances by the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, and James Taylor, among others.

This was the first official visit and State Dinner for a European leader during Obama’s presidency.