US Presidents in Germany
DW looks back at the string of presidents' visits to the German capital as well as the rest of the country.
First Post-War Presidential Visit
President Truman visited Germany about two months after the end of World War II to participate in the watershed Potsdam Conference. The purpose of the meeting with the other heads of states of the victorious powers, Great Britain and Soviet Union, was to put the resolutions drafted at the Yalta conference into action. Truman, Churchill and Stalin discussed the partitioning of the post-war world and resolving the problems of the war in the Far East. It was to be Truman's only presidential trip to Germany during his eight-year term that lasted until 1953.
Post-War Relations
President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited Bonn on Aug. 26, 1959, where he met with German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for talks largely addressing the occupation of West Berlin and growing strife with the Soviet Union concerning communist East Germany. Eisenhower had been instrumental in changing the post-war occupation of Germany and supporting the country’s efforts to be included in NATO.
"Ich Bin Ein Berliner"
When US President John F. Kennedy visited Germany in June 1963, he held a legendary speech in front of the Schoeneberg Rathaus during which he expressed his solidarity with the divided German people by declaring in German: "Ich bin ein Berliner." His speech and seven and a half hour tour by car through Berlin attracted 1.5 million people, gathering in the streets of Berlin or at the Schoeneberg Rathaus. Kennedy also gave a speech in Frankfurt's Paulskirche, calling for the creation of "a new social order, founded on liberty and justice." During his visit, which took place about five months before Kennedy's assassination, the president conversed with German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and President Heinrich Luebke in Bonn and visited the Dome in Cologne and the US Air Force Base in Hanau.
Johnson Attending Adenauer's Funeral
President Lyndon B. Johnson visited Germany from April 23-26, 1967, holding talks with German Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger and other Western state leaders in Bonn after attending the funeral of Germany's first post-war Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in Cologne on April 25, 1967. The long-delayed presidential visit solidified the US-German relations, which had been strained over the question of continued West German funding of American military occupation.
Nixon Makes Early Trip To Bonn and Berlin
On his official trip to Germany from Feb. 26-27, 1969, Richard Nixon visited Bonn and Berlin, where he met with Berlin's Mayor Klaus Schuetz for a tour of the Berlin Wall. During his speech in front of the German parliament, the Bundestag, in Bonn, Nixon pointed out that this was the first time that he, as President of the United States, appeared before any legislative body as he had not yet had the opportunity to appear before Congress at this early point of his presidency.
President Ford in Bonn and Giessen
On his two-day trip to Germany in July 1975, President Gerald Ford visited Bonn to hold talks with German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and then continued on to Giessen, where he stopped at the military barracks in Kirchgoens to address German soldiers.
Carter's Visit To Germany
President Jimmy Carter came to Germany in July 1978. On his four-day trip, he visited Bonn, the Wiesbaden-Erbenheim Air Base, Frankfurt and Berlin. He met with German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and President Walter Scheel and held speeches in Bonn and Frankfurt. He also attended the Economic Summit Meeting in Bonn.
Reagan at Checkpoint Charlie
On his first official visit to Germany, President Ronald Reagan stopped at Checkpoint Charlie, the notorious border crossing point between East and West Berlin on June 11, 1982. He was accompanied by German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and Richard von Weizsaecker, who then served as Berlin's major.
Reagan's Controversial Visit to Bitburg
Reagan's visit to the military cemetery in Bitburg on May 5, 1985 stirred a lot of controversy as 49 members of the Nazi "Waffen SS" are buried there. But Reagan, who laid down a wreath at a memorial for fallen soldiers, claimed, he did not know about this infamous aspect of the location. German Jews protested the previous ceremony in Bergen-Belsen, which took place slightly more than 40 years after the concentration camp was liberated by the British on April 15, 1945, because of Reagan's plan to stop at the Bitburg cemetery.
"Tear Down This Wall!"
Visiting Berlin on the occasion of its 750th anniversary, President Ronald Reagan held a speech in front of the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987. He delivered his speech to the people of West Germany, but it was audible in East Berlin as well. Reagan demanded of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev: "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
George Bush Sr. in Mainz
Mainz was on the list of destinations on President George Bush's visit to Germany in May 1989. After talks in Bonn, he held a speech in the Rheingoldhalle in Mainz, which was applauded by Chancellor Helmut Kohl. The two state leaders then took a boat trip on the Rhine from Oberwesel to Koblenz.
Clinton's First Visit To Germany
President Bill Clinton shook hands in the crowd after his speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on July 12, 1994. He was the first American President to hold a speech at the historical sight in a united Berlin and he would visit Germany another four times during his presidency.
Strained Relations Under George W. Bush
During his first term, President George W. Bush visited Germany one time on May 22, 2002, during the run-up to the Iraq war, when trans-Atlantic ties were strained. He met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and gave a speech before the German parliament, the Bundestag.
Cooking Up a Personal Relationship
US President George W. Bush would pay a total of three state visits to Germany and once more in 2007 for the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm. A year earlier he and Chancellor Angela Merkel had a chance to get to know each other better during a barbeque in her local electoral district.