Ladies and gentlemen,
The theme of this symposium spans a period of 170 years. A long time – although as we have just heard -
the German-American relationship goes back even further.
In the lobby of our Embassy, there is a panel listing all the official representatives of
the United States of America to the country that we know today as the Federal Republic
of Germany. The first official representative was John Quincy Adams, a future President
and the son of President John Adams. In 1797, Adam took up his post in Berlin as the Minister
Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Prussia. Coincidentally, his first lodgings were at
Pariser Platz 1, right beside the Embassy. History mirrored the future. In the ensuing
221 years, there have been Ministers to the German Empire, Ambassadors Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary to both the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany.
Some 64 altogether if you count the Chargé d'Affaires ad interim who, like myself,
have served for more than a year. As Chargé d'Affaires, it has been a great
honor for me to lead the U.S. Mission to Germany over the past 13 months as we await the arrival
of a new Ambassador. Richard Grenell has been nominated to be the next U.S. Ambassador to
Germany, but he still needs to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before he can take up the
post. Looking at the long list of official representatives
and their titles and jurisdictions, I am reminded of the ties between our peoples over the centuries
– through times of change and challenge. Germans were among the settlers at Jamestown
in 1608. The first permanent German settlement was Germantown, Pennsylvania, founded on October
6, 1683. Germantown, now a district of Philadelphia, was the first American community to formally
protest the evils of slavery. More Americans can trace their roots to Germany
than to any other nation. Nearly one in four! In President Trump's first proclamation
in honor of GermanAmerican Day, he wrote, "These immigrants and their descendants
have changed the trajectory of the United States. On GermanAmerican Day, we celebrate
their role in helping our country thrive." But why did Germans immigrate in such large
numbers to the United States? Many sought economic opportunity, but also religious and political
freedom. That was true for the first settlers and it was also true of those who arrived
in the aftermath of the revolution of 1848. One of the demands of the '48ers' was
freedom of the press. Their revolution was crushed; a large number of journalists, writers
and publishers were among the movement's supporters who fled Europe.
Since Women's Day was two weeks ago, and the whole month of March is Women's History
Month in the United States, I think it is appropriate to tell the story of one of the
female journalists of this period – a woman who is, as often the case, less well-known
than her male counterparts. Mathilde Franziska Anneke is not well-known in either Germany
or the U.S. During Women's History Month – and all year long, we should shine a light
of some of these forgotten stories. For many of her contemporaries in Wisconsin, Mathilde
Anneke symbolized the true spirit of the "48ers." Soon after arriving in Milwaukee in March
1852, Anneke started the first feminist journal published by a woman in America, the Deutsche
Frauen-Zeitung. Overall, more than 700 German language publications existed in the United
States in 1890. In contrast to Mathilde Anneke, Carl Schurz
is one of the more well-known figures of those times. On the 100th anniversary of his birth,
Gustav Stresemann, after whom the host institution of today's symposium is named, characterized
him in the following way: "Carl Schurz … was concerned with profound moral goals that are
not restricted to a single nation, but apply to all mankind." The commitment of people
like Carl Schurz and Mathilde Anneke to these moral goals has been woven into the national
fabric of the United States. Some ten thousand 48ers immigrated to the
United States. That is a relatively small number, but their impact was enormous. Although
some of them were caricatured as "Latin Farmers" who supposedly read classical texts
while plowing their fields, they were passionate about their cause; and they clearly viewed
themselves as having a mission to fulfill. In German-American communities across the
country, 48ers assumed positions of leadership. They sought to realize their ideals by becoming
actively involved in the political process. Mathilde Anneke wrote and spoke out in favor
of defense of freedom, justice and equality, especially for blacks and for women. She worked
closely with suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In her later years,
she started a progressive school for girls in Milwaukee. 1848 was clearly a turning
point in Europe; but the 1850s – when the 48ers arrived – was also a turning point
in American history. Those years were a prelude to the Civil War. The 48ers played a role
in their new-found country during this time of national political crisis. Many like Mathilde
Anneke wrote about slavery. Others worked more directly for the cause. President Lincoln
asked many 48ers to take on roles in his government. Carl Schurz was one of the more well-known
military figures, but there were many others. A couple of years ago, soon after my wife
Michelle and I arrived, or better said, returned to serve in Germany, we visited an exhibit
at the Haus der Geschichte in Stuttgart. Frankly, the story of the Revolution of 1848 is not
well-known in the United States. I thought I was fairly well-informed about both German
history and most aspects of the German-American relationship. That day, however, I learned
a lot. In my opinion, the stories of the 48ers are
reminders of the broader partnership between our two nations and the history we share.
As I know from my own experience as a high school exchange student in northern Germany,
ours is a partnership between people. As a result of that exchange trip, I decided to
become a diplomat. In the timeline of German-American history, Americans and Germans have often
inspired each other – in many ways, both personal as in my case, but also more sweeping.
For example, let's talk about the media – one of the causes of the 48ers.
The United States played a crucial role in the establishment of a free press in Germany's
early post World War II history. Germany and the United States derive their strength from
constitutions that guarantee freedom of the press and freedom of opinion. The pluralistic
nature of our engaged political cultures, our robust economies, and our vibrant societies
drives our transatlantic community; and the media play an enormous role in all of those
areas Earlier this month, I had the opportunity
to attend a conference at the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut, or DAI in Heidelberg to witness
how both experienced and budding journalists are addressing the challenges and opportunities
of our times. The title of the conference was "Fake News, Enlightenment and Democracy
in the Digital News Age." Billed as a TechForum, the event included a Hackathon where young
journalists worked with coders and 'techies' to design apps to increase transparency. It
also included media literacy workshops for high school students. An illustrious panel
of American and German journalists also took the time to discuss the challenges of the
digital news age. Tellingly, at the beginning of their remarks, two of the four U.S. speakers
pulled out dog-eared copies of the U.S. Constitution. Freedom of expression and freedom of the press
are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but these rights are also
codified in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment is part
of our Bill of Rights. In the U.S., the press is sometimes called the fourth branch of
government. An important function of the press is to inform: to help citizens understand
the often-complicated processes of government, and to make people aware of how decisions
made at the highest levels will affect them. In the United States, as in Germany, the press
fosters active debate. Leaders committed to democracy may not like having their policies
challenged publicly, but will uphold the right of the press to do so. That was obviously
not the case in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1848 when the King of Prussia stated in
public that only God and not the people or any legislative body could decide upon his
crown. Today, in both of our two countries, we believe
that government exists to serve its citizens. When citizens are at the center of a political
system, an independent and free media is indispensable. Respect for a free press, the rule of law,
and judicial independence are sources of strength and stability. Laws that restrict media operations
pose a challenge to international partnerships and an impediment to global stability. The
open, free flow of information is one of the cornerstones of democracy. That is a fact
of history – in Germany, the United States, and around the world.
Technology also continuously changes the way in which news and information circulate. That,
too, is a fact of history. Today, we live in an era of what experts call hybrid influencing.
The range of methods and activities is wide as we see, for example, in how ISIS uses the
Internet to attract followers and financing. We need to be aware of these challenges.
The economic realities of the digital age also pose threats to the integrity and independence
of a free and transparent press. Some might say that this is due in part to
what is described as the "post-factual" world we live in. Oxford Dictionary's 2016
Word of the Year was "post-truth," defined as "relating to or denoting circumstances
in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to
emotion and personal belief." This is not a new concept. Opinion is often framed by
what 'feels' true and what correlates with people's pre-existing set of beliefs,
but technology has intensified and accelerated the problem.
One thing is certain: we are safer when our governments and our people cooperate to advance
shared goals. We are only as strong as our confidence in our values; and that includes,
as the 48ers would have said, confidence in a resilient and reliable media landscape.
According to a recent poll, 40 percent of Americans say they can recall an incident
that eroded their confidence in the media, most often one involving a perception of one-sidedness
or inaccuracies. But what happens when we, as information consumers, do not notice that
we are being deceived? The changes we are living through can amplify
the power of those who wish to mislead, but this only makes uncovering and sharing the
truth more important. Democratic societies are not infallible, but
they are accountable – thanks to an open exchange of ideas and an informed citizenry.
That's what Mathilde Anneke and Carl Schurz believed; and it is what we believe today.
This was the conclusion of the journalists attending the Heidelberg TechForum I mentioned
earlier. The closing panel of German journalists commented on what they had been able to observe
about the state of American journalism – and whether those trends were applicable to Germany.
The observations we took away were threefold. First, the importance of standards and transparency
and citing if not the actual sources, documenting the journalistic process in a fair and objective
fashion. Second, the importance of applying those standards to investigative journalism
– not just in the field of corporate misdoings, as is often the case in Germany, but to broader
social issues. And finally, the potential impact of the slow disappearance of small-town
newspapers and media outlets. Again, I can't help but thinking that what Mathilde Anneke
and Carl Schurz would have agreed. I have focused today on freedom of the press
– one of the values that the 48ers held dear. However, their influence can also be
felt in the structure of civic society across America – not only in our local newspapers,
but also our kindergartens and schools, our city parks and playgrounds, and our local
theaters and orchestras. In my own experience, during my time as Chargé,
I have had many opportunities to sit down and talk with German citizens across the spectrum
of society. There are no easy answers to the tough challenges we face both at home and
on the international stage. Invariably, however, I find these discussions to be stimulating
and encouraging. Why? Because these interactions show that we care – deeply – about the
same issues, even if we sometimes differ in our approach. It also shows that we care about
the U.S.-German relationship. For me, learning more about the Revolution of 1848 and the
48ers since my visit to the Haus der Gescichte in Stuttgart two years ago has made me realize
even more vividly how much Germans and Americans have in common – in no small measure perhaps
because of the significant impact of beliefs, language, values, and traditions of Germans
on American culture. I really wish I could stay longer here today
and learn more about the long-term impact of the Revolution of 1848 on our transatlantic
relationship. Unfortunately, however, I have a plane to catch for an event later today
in Duesseldorf. I wish all of you a great conference. Thank you for
your attention. Melinda, I think I do have a little bit if time, however, for a few questions.
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