In US Congress, Merkel gets personal on Berlin Wall (News Feature)

By Mike McCarthy Nov 3, 2009, 18:40 GMT

Washington - Chancellor Angela Merkel carried with her a certain level of clout when she addressed the US Congress to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, providing a personal account none of her predecessors could have.

Merkel is the third German chancellor to hold the office since the Wall came down on November 9, 1989, but she is the first from the former East Germany, and grew up behind the Iron Curtain wondering what it would be like to one day visit the United States.

'In my wildest dreams, I would not have thought this possible 20 years ago, before the fall of the Wall,' she told hundreds of US lawmakers gathered in the House of Representatives. 'For at the time, it was beyond my imagination to ever even travel to the United States, let alone stand here before you one day.'

In a rare invitation to a foreigner, Congress invited Merkel to give a speech Tuesday before both chambers to mark the demise of the Wall and end of communist rule in Europe. Merkel was clearly touched by the warm and lengthy ovation she received before stepping up to the podium.

'It's very moving, I must say,' Merkel remarked in English before transitioning into her native tongue, addressing the special relationship the two countries have shared since the end of World War II, and the US struggle against communism in Europe.

She also addressed issues of the day, including the war in Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear ambitions, Middle East peace and her long-held goal to get an international pact to rein in greenhouse gases blamed for climate change.

The first German leader to address Congress since Konrad Adenauer in 1957, Merkel, 55, provided a glimpse of life and her younger days in the Eastern bloc, when she longed for all things western.

She talked about her fascination with western films and books smuggled into East Germany by relatives, and an aunt who regularly sent her a 'particular brand' of jeans.

'What did I see and what did I read? What was it I was passionate about?' she said. 'I was passionate about the American dream, the possibility for each and every one to be successful, to actually make it in life through one's own personal effort.'

'The land of unlimited opportunity was for me, for a long time, impossible to reach,' she said. 'The Wall, barbed wire and the orders to shoot at those who tried to leave, limited my access to the free world.'

Merkel recalled her days as a physicist at the Academy of Science in East Berlin until the Wall came down, when she decided to go into politics. She talked about the first trip she and her husband took to the United States - to California in 1990.

'We shall never forget our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. It was simply gorgeous,' she said.

Before her speech on Capitol Hill, Merkel met with Obama at the White House, and the latter praised his counterpart for her leadership, noting the anniversary of the Wall's collapse should serve as a 'special moment.'

'This is a special moment for Chancellor Merkel, as somebody who grew up in East Germany, who understands what it's like to be under the shadow of a dictatorial regime,' Obama said.

Merkel heaped much praise on the United States for standing with Germans locked behind the gates of communism, reflecting on the Berlin Airlift, former president John F Kennedy's 'Ich bin ein Berliner' speech, as well as Ronald Reagan's 'tear down this Wall.'

'We Germans know how much we owe to you, our American friends, and we shall never - I personally shall never, ever - forget this.'