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President Obama:
Good evening. Guten abend.
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Michelle and I are honored
to welcome you as we host
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Chancellor Merkel,
Professor Sauer,
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and the German delegation for
the first official visit and
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State Dinner for a European
leader during my presidency.
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(applause)
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(translated in German)
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Angela, you and the German
people have always shown me
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such warmth during my
visits to Germany.
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I think of your gracious
hospitality in Dresden.
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I think back to when I was a
candidate and had that small
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rally in Berlin's Tiergarten.
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(laughter)
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So we thought we'd reciprocate with
a little dinner in our Rose Garden.
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(translated in German)
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Now, it's customary at these
dinners to celebrate the values
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that bind nations.
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Tonight, we want to do
something different.
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We want to pay tribute to
an extraordinary leader who
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embodies these values and who's
inspired millions around the
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world -- including me
-- and that's my friend,
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Chancellor Merkel.
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(translated in German)
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More than five decades ago --
in 1957 -- the first German
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chancellor ever to address our
Congress, Konrad Adenauer,
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spoke of his people's "will of
freedom" and of the millions of
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his countrymen forced to
live behind an Iron Curtain.
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And one of those millions,
in a small East German town,
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was a young girl named Angela.
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(translated in German)
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She remembers when the Wall
went up and how everyone in
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her church was crying.
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Told by the communists that
she couldn't pursue her love
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of languages, she
excelled as a physicist.
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Asked to spy for the secret
police, she refused.
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And the night the Wall came
down, she crossed over,
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like so many others, and finally
experienced what she calls the
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"incredible gift of freedom."
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(translated in German)
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Tonight, we honor Angela Merkel
not for being denied her
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freedom, or even for
attaining her freedom,
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but for what she achieved
when she gained her freedom.
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Determined to
finally have her say,
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she entered politics -- rising
to become the first East German
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to lead a united Germany, the
first woman chancellor in German
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history, and an eloquent voice
for human rights and dignity
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around the world.
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(translated in German)
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The Presidential Medal
of Freedom is the highest
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honor a President can
bestow on a civilian.
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Most honorees are Americans;
only a few others have received
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it, among them Pope John
Paul II, Nelson Mandela,
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and Helmut Kohl.
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So please join me in welcoming
Chancellor Merkel for the
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presentation of the
next Medal of Freedom.
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(applause)
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(translated in German)
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Military Aide:
Presidential Medal of
Freedom to Dr. Angela Merkel.
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Dr. Angela Merkel came to
symbolize the triumph of
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freedom by becoming the
first East German to
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serve as chancellor of a United
Federal Republic of Germany.
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She also made history when
she became Germany's first
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female chancellor.
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A dedicated public servant,
Chancellor Merkel has promoted
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liberty and prosperity in
her own country, in Europe,
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and throughout the world.
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(translated in German)
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(the medal is presented)
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President Obama:
You can all applaud.
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(laughter and applause)
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I've got to do the toast.
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(laughter)
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(translated in German)
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I want to conclude by inviting
all of you to stand and join me
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in a toast.
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And I want to do so with the
words that Angela spoke two
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years ago when she became the
first German leader to address
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our Congress since Chancellor
Adenauer all those decades ago.
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Her words spoke not only to the
dreams of that young girl in the
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East, but to the dreams of all
who still yearn for their rights
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and dignity today: to freedom,
which "must be struggled for,
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and then defended anew,
every day of our lives."
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(translated in German)
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Cheers. Zum wohl.
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(applause)
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Chancellor Merkel:
(speaking in German)
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(as translated)
Mr. President, dear
Barack, dear Michelle,
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ladies and gentlemen -- the
first political event during
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my childhood that I distinctly
remember is the building of the
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Berlin Wall 50 years ago.
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I was seven years
old at the time.
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Seeing the grownups
around me, even my parents,
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so stunned that they
actually broke out in tears,
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was something that
shook me to the core.
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My mother's family were
separated through the
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building of the Wall.
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(speaking in German)
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(as translated)
I grew up in the part of
Germany that was not free,
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the German Democratic Republic.
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For many years, I
dreamt of freedom,
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just as many others did.
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Also of the freedom to
travel to the United States.
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And I already had planned this
out for the day that I would
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reach retirement age.
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That was the age of 60 for men
-- sorry, for women at the time,
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and 65 for men.
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(speaking in German)
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(as translated)
So we as women were somewhat
privileged at the time.
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(laughter)
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(speaking in German)
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(as translated)
But imagining that I would one
day stand in the Rose Garden of
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the White House and receive
the Medal of Freedom from an
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American President that
was certainly beyond even
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my wildest dreams.
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And believe me, receiving
this prestigious award
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moves me deeply.
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(speaking in German)
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(as translated)
My thanks go to the American
people, first and foremost,
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for this extraordinary honor,
knowing full well how much you
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have done for us Germans.
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And I thank you
personally, Mr. President,
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because you are a man
of strong convictions.
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You touch people with your
passion and your visions for
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a good future for these
people, also in Germany.
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You have been able time and
again to put down important
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international goalposts,
injecting issues such as
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disarmament, the question of how
to shape our relations with the
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countries of the Middle East,
and last but not least,
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the Middle East -- the solution
to the Middle East conflict with
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new dynamism.
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(speaking in German)
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(as translated)
Mr. President, I see the award
of the Medal of Freedom as a
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testimony of the excellent
German-American partnership.
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Our countries stand up together
for peace and freedom.
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History has often showed us the
strength of the forces that are
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unleashed by the
yearning for freedom.
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It moved people to overcome
their fears and openly confront
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dictators such as in East
Germany and Eastern Europe
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about 22 years ago.
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(speaking in German)
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(as translated)
Some of those courageous men and
women are with me here tonight.
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And the Medal of Freedom you
so kindly bestowed on me,
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you also bestowed on them.
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(speaking in German)
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(as translated)
The yearning for freedom cannot
be contained by walls for long.
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It was this yearning that
brought down the Iron Curtain
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that divided Germany and
Europe, and indeed the world,
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into two blocs.
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America stood resolutely
on the side of freedom.
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It is to this resolve that we
Germans owe the unity of our
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country in peace and freedom.
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(speaking in German)
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(as translated)
Also today, the yearning
for freedom may well make
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totalitarian regimes
tremble and fall.
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We have followed with great
interest and empathy the
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profound changes in North
Africa and in the Arab world.
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Freedom is indivisible.
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Each and every one has
the same right to freedom,
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be it in North Africa or
Belarus, in Myanmar or Iran.
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(speaking in German)
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(as translated)
Still, the struggle for
freedom is demanding far
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too many sacrifices, and
claiming far too many victims.
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My thoughts are with our
soldiers, our policemen,
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and the many, many
volunteers who try to help.
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I humbly bow to all those
who risk their lives for
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the cause of freedom.
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(speaking in German)
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(as translated)
This year marks the tenth
anniversary of the horrible
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attacks of 9/11.
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Over the past 10 years, we have
stepped up significantly our
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joint fight against terror
and for freedom and this
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in many ways.
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We see that living in freedom
and defending freedom are two
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sides of one and the same coin,
for the precious gift of freedom
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doesn't come naturally, but
has to be fought for, nurtured,
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and defended time
and time again.
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(speaking in German)
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(as translated)
Sometimes this may seem like an
endless fight against windmills.
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But you see, my
personal experience
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is a quite different one.
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What we dare not dream
of today may well become
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reality tomorrow.
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(speaking in German)
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(speaking in English)
Neither the chains
of dictatorship nor
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the fetters of oppression can keep
down the forces of freedom for long.
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This is my firm conviction that
shall continue to guide me.
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In this, the Presidential Medal
of Freedom shall serve to spur
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me on and to encourage me.
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Mr. President, thank you
for honoring me with this
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prestigious award.
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(applause)
