Happy Fourth of July!

Many of my friends have written to me to gloat about having the day off, while I in turn must work in Berlin. Others have forwarded their sympathies, that I will miss fireworks and apple pie. Why not at all my dear readers!

Today, July 4, 2008 . . . The New American Embassy opens on the Pariser Platz in Berlin (this is the plaza directly behind the Brandenburg gate (that 20 years ago was still in East Germany). We share the plaza with the French embassy (thus Pariser Platz). In any event, tonight, weather permitting, there will be an opening ceremony and the American Embassy will set off fireworks over the Brandenburg Gate. It is a mere coincidence that it is the fourth of July . . . but a happy one. I'm sure every American in Berlin will be out to see the display. There are two issues: Due to the high latitude, it does not get dark in Berlin during the longest days of the summer until nearly 11pm at night. The fireworks are scheduled for 11:30 apparently. Secondly, it has rained all day. I hope that the setting sun will calm the weather, and that we'll get a clear night sky.

The embassy is quite controversial because of it's location between the Brandenburg Tor (Gate) and the Jewish Holocaust Memorial. It is said that the architectural firm that designed the embassy, made several politically incorrect requests of the German government, which included moving the Brandenburg Tor to accommodate the embassy, or moving the Holocaust memorial to accommodate the embassy. I don't know if either story is true . . . but I can believe some remote beurocrat would innocuously propose such a faux pas. The embassy succeeds and fails on different levels. The structure is understated;the stone, shape, and situation complements the setting. The building is truncated and blocky though, not matching the heighth of the surrounding structures, and for this many in Berlin have complained.

Too late. The building is there, as is, and ready to open. I'll let you know how it goes next week.

Update: Well, Friday evening was a bit windy and rainy. So the U.S. Embassy decided to set off the fireworks an hour and a half early (one assumes because it was dark enough). As a result I missed the fireworks, and was standing at a subway station 3 miles away, when I heard them going off! When I finally made it to the Unter Den Linden U-bahn station . . . a thousand pissed-off Americans were standing outside a fence wishing they had not believed the Embassy telephon operator - who advised us all that 11:30 was the time. I put my camera over the fence, and took the following picture of our tax dollars at work:

On a positive note, I went back to the Pariser Platz the next day, and attended the street fair. It was well attended, and pleasant in a Federal kind of way (read as the volunteer-organized LGBT Stadtfest was way better!!). I even played their spin the wheel and win a prize game. When I spun the wheel, the needle landed on a suitcase! I was sure I'd won a trip to somewhere (in America?!). Nope. The bored clerk handed me a "New US Embassy" coffee mug. So one of you lucky birds is getting a mug for Christmas in lieu of coal (if you play your cards right).