Friends, best partners, and oompah-doompah

LAST Wednesday, German Ambassador Dr. Gordon Kricke and Frau Anke Mackrodt Kricke hosted the reception at the New World Hotel to celebrate German national Tag der Deutsche Einheit (Day of Germany Unity).

In his remarks, Ambassador Kricke drew parallels in the peaceful transition of Germany Unity and the peaceful People Power of February, 1986, which ushered in President Corazon Aquino. He invited everyone to raise their glasses to H.E., President Rodrigo Duterte, and to the abiding friendship and partnership between the Philippines and Germany. DFA Assistant Secretary for European Affairs Maria Cleofe Natividad responded for the Philippine government and raised a toast to the German President Frank Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel. Asec Natividad is the ideal greeter from DFA, as a former ambassador to Germany.

The date and events are a little complicated. Ambassador Kricke was celebrating the 27th anniversary of Tag der Deutschen Einheit (Day of German Unity) on 4 October, but the event is really every 3rd of October. He was also celebrating the 27th anniversary; but Germany has been with us since we can remember.

Those who are longer in the tooth remember that post-War Germany was divided between a Federal Republic of Germany (West) and a German Democratik Republik (East). In those times, a cynical diplomat wrote that the dream of wiedervereiningu (reunification) seemed to be overtaken by nimmer aufwiedersehn (ne’er to meet again). As late as the early seventies, the Economist asked then Chancellor Helmut Schmidt if the German dream of reunification was no more in the minds of the young Germans, who seemed more to be enamored with fast cars, European holidays, and the good life. The straight-talking chancellor pointed to the Poland which was divided and even disappeared from the map of the world, but a nation’s concept never dies.

The dream seemed so distant and disappearing at the time. But the stout-hearted persisted. West Germany marked a “Day of German Unity” on June 17, to honor the 1953 worker uprising in East Berlin, ruthlessly crushed by the regime with Soviet tanks. Now a reunited Germany celebrates its main secular holiday on October 3 as “Day of German Unity,” commemorating the date in 1990 when re-unification was fully accomplished.

Germany is the third largest economy in the world. When we see the Mercedes Benzes and BMWs, we see that Germans have always been around. Germany is the engine of growth in the Euroean Union. Germany is here in the Philippines over the long haul. There is a German school to provide for the next generation of strong German presence. And there is strong technical assistance, (which isn’t called development assistance in German nomenclature, as it is administered by the Bundesministerium für Zusammmen arbeit (Ministry for Partnership).

At the evening’s national day reception, Ms. Ena Maria Aldecoa, a former Madrigal Singer, sang the Philippine national anthem Bayang Magiliw. She followed this with possibly one of the best interpretations of the German national anthem Deutschlandslied. As a perfect host, Ambasador Kricke introduced Philippine guitar duet artists Jenny & Jeff. And to make sure that we do not miss the distinct German flavor, the Ambassador flew in the Bavarian Sound Express for oompah-doompah music.

The stimmung was notably German. Red and white wine flowed, and enough varieties of wurst and sauerkraut to go around. I never got to check if the beer was German because, in any case, our San Miguel has a German brewer.

I have very fond memories of Germany as the last Philippine envoy in Bonn and the first to Berlin. I vaguely remember a German technical expert (whose name I can’t recall) who was on the Bicol express returning to Manila to catch an outbound flight for Germany. It was not the best of times for our Bicol Express, which was famously said to ask passengers to get off when the rails go uphill to help the load. In the event, the train was running late and the German expert was afraid he would not catch the flight at NAIA. He told his problem to the conductor, who was unperturbed. Conductor told German expert to jump off at the next stop Sta. Estancia and hire the next jeepney. To make the long story short, after wrenching zigs and zags and a few bistiko santo ejaculations, German expert caught in time his flight at NAIA. The morale of the story: Germans are efficient; we are effective.

That promises good continuing Philippine-German partnership. FEEDBACK: