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Berlin embassy to show "warmer, fuzzier" U.S.
2008-01-31
A new U.S. embassy that sits next to the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin will show off America's "warmer, friendlier, fuzzier" side, U.S. Ambassador William R. Timken said on Thursday. Designed by California architects Moore Ruble Yudell at a cost of $130 million, the embassy is due to open this spring and will be celebrated with two days of festivities in the Pariser Platz square starting on July 4. Its planning was dogged by controversy as U.S. officials demanded Berlin shift two major streets in the city centre away from the embassy for security. They reached a compromise in 2000 and construction began just over three years ago. Unlike many other U.S. embassies around the world, the new building in Berlin does not sit behind tall barricades but is relatively exposed on one of the German capital's most visited squares -- a symbol, Timken said, of the close German-American relationship. "We could have built an embassy out in the woods at half the cost and twice the security," Timken told reporters. "We are here as a symbol of our desire to be a partner to Germany ... It's going to be a warmer, friendlier, fuzzier America." Relations between the United States and Germany grew more strained than at any time since World War Two when former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder came out strongly against the U.S.-led war in Iraq. But his successor Angela Merkel has worked hard to repair ties and German officials are hoping to lure U.S. President George W. Bush to Berlin for the grand opening of the embassy on U.S. Independence Day. The embassy is across the street from Berlin's new Holocaust memorial and within metres of where the Berlin Wall once stood. The French and British embassies are also around Pariser Platz, a former border zone between East and West Berlin. The United States acquired a palace on the same site in 1931 with the intention of turning it into an embassy, but World War Two broke out before it was functional and the heavily-bombed building was demolished by the East German government in 1957.
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 Obama's Brandenburg Concerto (2008-07-13) | | Bush, Merkel Say More Iran Sanctions May Be Necessary (2008-06-11) |  Berlin embassy to show "warmer, fuzzier" U.S. (2008-01-31) | | Bush, Merkel discuss tougher sanctions on Iran (2007-11-10) | | Bush, Merkel to focus on Iran in Texas ranch visit (2007-11-09) | | Sarkozy, Merkel to meet Bush this week (2007-11-05) | | Bush, Merkel far apart on climate change (2007-06-06) | | Germany praises Bush on global warming (2007-06-03) | | U.S. rejects German climate position: G8 draft (2007-05-25) | | Germany urges U.S. missile defense talks (2007-03-17) | | Germany orders arrest of 13 over CIA 'kidnapping' (2007-01-31) | | German court orders arrest of El Masri kidnappers (2007-01-31) | | US, Germany relaunch Mideast quartet (2007-01-17) | | U.S. urges Germany to extend mandate in Afghanistan (2006-10-23) | | Bush, Merkel call for restraint in Mideast (2006-07-13) | | Bush may discuss Gitmo issue in Germany (2006-07-13) | | Bush meets Merkel amid Middle East crisis (2006-07-13) | | Bush, Merkel confer ahead of G-8 summit (2006-07-12) | | Bush to meet with German Chancellor Thurs. (2006-07-10) | | Bush, Merkel pledge backing for Israel, denounce Iran and Hamas (2006-05-04) | | Rumsfeld Upbeat on Relations With Germany (2006-02-04) | | German Parliament Eyes Spy Investigation (2006-01-21) | | Merkel and Bush Off to Warm Start (2006-01-14) | | German Leader to Show Sunny Side to U.S. (2006-01-12) | | Germany's Merkel says Guantanamo should be shut (2006-01-07) |
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