Selected Events 2007

June 11, 2007.
At a June 11 reception at his residence, Consul General Matt Boyse and his wife, Eleanore, welcomed over a hundred guests from politics, business, media and culture from Northrhine-Westphalia, including Lord Mayors Joachim Erwin (Duesseldorf) and Fritz Schramma (Cologne) -- both pictured here -- and NRW Interior Minister Ingo Wolf. The CG used the occasion to reflect upon two of the most significant speeches in the post WWII German-American relationship -- late President Ronald Reagan’s historic “Mr. Gorbachev: Open This Gate; Mr. Gorbachev: Tear Down This Wall” speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in the former West Berlin on June 12, 1987 and the announcement of the European Recovery Program (aka Marshall Plan), which the late Secretary of State George C. Marshall delivered at Harvard University 60 years ago on June 5, 1947. The reception presented an opportunity to remember the leadership, vision and contributions these American statesmen made to Germany's success after WW II as well as to German reunification.

• The Marshall Plan Speech. Remarks by Secretary State George C. Marshall, Harvard University, June 5, 1947
• Listen to the Speech
• George C. Marshall Foundation

• President Ronald Reagan. Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, June 12, 1987
• Listen to the Speech
• Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library