Remarks at the German-American Friendship Garden

on German-American Day Oct. 6, 2009

The German-American Friendship Garden was mandated by the U.S. Congress and dedicated on November 15, 1988, by President Ronald Reagan and Chancellor Helmut Kohl. It is located on Constitution Avenue between 15^th and 17^th Streets on the axis between the Washington Monument and the White House. The garden is planted with American and German plants. President Reagan called it “a symbol of the friendship between our two countries.”

If I believed in miracles, I would have to consider our Friendship Garden on the National Mall just that. Only take a look at its neighbors!

A few blocks to the southeast you can see the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (14^th & Independence). In the same direction, at 6^th & Independence, the National Eisenhower Memorial is going up.

To the southwest, near Independence, is the District of Columbia World War I Memorial; it honors the citizens of the Nation’s Capital who served in that war. A short distance north you can see the huge National World War II Memorial (17^th near Independence) commemorating American soldiers who fought from North Africa to Central Europe. Beyond that is Arlington National Cemetery where many soldiers are buried who fought against Germany in two wars. Here are also the Tombs of the Unknown from World War I and II.

Across the street from the Friendship Garden is the President’s Park. Here, at 17^th & Constitution, is the Second Army Division Memorial. It features a golden, 18-foot flaming sword “symbolically blocking the German advance on Paris in World War I.” Carved in granite are the names of 10 battles in which this division participated. Here are also the names of eight campaigns, ranging from Normandy to Leipzig, in which it took part in World War II.

A little closer to the White House is an even grander memorial. The First Army Division Monument features a tall shaft topped by the golden statue of Victory. Carved into granite are the names of six battles of World War I and eight World War II campaigns ranging from Algiers to Central Europe. A short distance east, at 14^th & Pennsylvania, is Pershing Park and the statue of General John J. Pershing.

In the midst of all this is our German-American Friendship Garden. Could anyone have imagined that a memorial celebrating the friendship between Germany and the United States would some day be erected among such neighbors? Moreover, the only memorial on the National Mall that pertains to a nation other than the American. For this we have to thank chiefly German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. It came about at the time when President Reagan wanted to upgrade the missiles stationed in Germany. But there were big demonstrations against this. Chancellor Kohl was in Washington to finalize the installation of the new American missiles. This made President Reagan very happy, of course. With his great sense of humor he joked: Helmut is letting me put my missiles in Germany, and I am letting him put up a Friendship Garden here in Washington, D.C. Everyone smiled.

A few years ago, President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal of Freedom to Chancellor Kohl. My wife and I received an unexpected invitation. After the ceremony, almost everyone got in line to shake the President’s hands. But the Chancellor was standing there almost alone at the window that looks down on our Friendship Garden. I thought that I ought to speak to him. I was, of course, not a little daunted by the great man, so I stammered something incomprehensible in my rusty German. He gave me a puzzled look. Then I pulled myself together and finally managed to say: Vielen Dank für den Freundschafts Garten. His face lit up, and he shook my hand. It was a great moment for me.

Now wouldn’t it be nice if our national German-American organizations sent a little note to Helmut Kohl thanking him for the Friendship Garden, while he is still alive.

Gary Carl Grassl, President of the German-American Heritage Society of Greater Washington, D.C.