Konrad Adenauer specials; Adenauer: Thoughts on democracy

My first journey to America was one of the many steps of a defeated people on the way back to the community of nations. This way had to be traveled with a great deal of patience with prudence and without ever overrating oneself. One had to reckon again and again with the setbacks and with attempts to hinder us we were forced to be aware that we had many opponents and that we had to overcome many psychological inhibitions. The most important thing was to lead our country out of isolation. After its total defeat and collapse I had to try everything to win are enemies of the second world war over as allies and as friends. This demanded a very cautious psychological process. My main concern was to lead Germany back to the community of nations as an equal and equal of those nations and to achieve the integration of Germany into the free world. The success of my negotiations in Washington lay in an area very difficult

to survey in the psychological area. My visit to the United States signified the conclusion of a very unfortunate phase of German-American relations. The word friendship was used expressly at the beginning and at the end of the final communique the word friendship meant a great deal. The way in which we Germans have traveled since 1945 was hard and difficult but within the short period of only eight years much was achieved. This became very clear to me on the occasion of my visit to the American National Cemetery at Arlington which will remain an unforgettable experience. I had expressed the intention to place a wreath at the grave of the Unknown Soldier in the Arlington National Cemetery. The American administration made the placing of this wreath into an extremely impressive ceremony. It took this occasion to put an

end to the years of enmity in a very touching way to show to the whole world that this time was past that. Now an era of friendship had begun and that the Federal Republic of Germany was really accepted in the circle and the community of the free peoples. Arlington The National Cemetery of the United States is located somewhat on the outskirts of Washington in a very beautiful area of a large park. For me my visit there on the 8th of April 1953 brought the climax of my stay in the United States. Symbolically it was the climax of eight years of hard work. Upon my arrival at the cemetery I was greeted by an American general. He accompanied me to the grave. Behind us marched three American cadets the center one carried the German flag. The broad grounds before the grave were

lined with companies of all branches of the American armed forces. A 21 gun salute thundered across the grounds as I walked to the grave with the general. The German flag close behind me while commands rang in the air. I placed a wreath with a black red and gold band on the grave. It was for the dead of both nations. An American military band played the German national anthem. I saw that tears filled the eyes of one of the men accompanying me. And I also was deeply moved. It was a long and hard way from the total collapse in the year 1945 to the moment in the year 1953 when the German national anthem was played in the cemetery of honor of the United States.