Berlin Fulbright Conference

Back to Berlin after 30 Years

It had been nearly 30 years since my last visit to Berlin before arriving there last week Sunday.  The occasion this time was a 5-day conference for Fulbright scholars in Europe.  The event is hosted by the German-U.S. Fulbright Commission, but they graciously extend the invitation to Fulbrighters serving in other European countries as well.  Needless to say, I found Berlin a very different city from the one I regularly visited on business in the early 1980s. 

As a U.S. Air Force officer assigned to the Headquarters, American Forces Network - Europe in Frankfurt a.M. from 1980-1984, I often visited our affiliate station (radio/TV) in Berlin.  I always took a day or two of leave in conjunction with the visits to explore this remarkable city.  Each visit also included a passage through Checkpoint Charlie into (then) East Berlin.  I vividly recall the bleak grayness that characterized that sector of the city, behind "The Wall."  I recall, too, walking around the barren, grim region of Alexander Platz.  As it happened, on this trip, Robin and I joined several hundred other Fulbrighters staying at the sparkling high-rise Park Inn Hotel -- in Alexander Platz!  My, how the area has changed!  Like the rest of Berlin, this area is now vibrant and colorful.  I could not stop marveling at the metamorphasis.  The vast majority of Fulbrighters participating in the conference were graduate students pursuing their studies or recent college graduates serving as English Teaching Assistants; it was sobering to realize that most were infants when the Cold War ended.  Still, they seemed to appreciate the astonishing and troubling history associated with the city of Berlin and in particular with the very area surrounding our hotel. 

The seminar featured a demanding and enriching agenda, with valuable activities from morning through late evening.  Keynote speeches, panel discussions, anecdotal reflections, discussion sessions and musical performances kept us happily busy the entire time.  Each event and logistical detail was planned and conducted perfectly by the fine staff of the German-U.S. Fulbright Commission.  Special guests included Dr. Mary Ellen Schmider, Executive Director of the Fulbright Association in Washington, D.C.; Johannes Hensel, a member of the first small cadre of German Fulbrighters who traveled to the U.S. in 1953/54 (his is a remarkable story of escaping from East Germany to West Berlin, entering university, earning a Fulbright fellowship, then serving a highly successful career with 3M in worldwide postings); and Dr. Ulrich Lippman, first Executive Director of the German-U.S. Fulbright Commission (who earned his Ph.D. at Ohio University, as did I).  We also enjoyed panel discussions featuring top German government officials on topics such as the status of European integration.

Robin and I traveled from Poznań to Berlin via PolskiBus, a fairly new service providing inexpensive and comfortable travel within Poland and to destinations near Poland.  The 4-hour bus ride was quite pleasant, despite its 4:50 a.m. departure Sunday morning.  We returned via the Berlin-Warsaw Express train, which took just 2 1/2 hours, but cost more than double the bus fare.  Getting around Berlin, of course, was easy on the U-Bahns and S-Bahns. 

I'll post more photos to my Facebook page, but following are a number of representive shots:




The comfortable coach we took from Poznań to Berlin.
Heavy fog that morning prevented us from fully
enjoying the beautiful rural scenery.




















Several hundred Fulbrighters convened for the conference.
Seated in the second row, far left in the coat and tie, is
Johannes Hensel, one of the first German Fulbrighters.
In his remarks later in the conference, he cited AFN (my
former military unit in Germany) as helping him learn
English in the early 1950s.



For Sunday afternoon, conference planners arranged a menu
of cultural tours, including the one we chose to Checkpoint
Charlie and the associated museum.  Thirty years earlier, I used
to make the transit through this point into the Soviet Sector.





















Only a few sections of "The Wall" remain, preserved as a
reminder of difficult times.



German-U.S. Fulbright Commission Executive Director Dr. Rolf
Hoffmann welcomes Fulbrighters to the conference.



Conference events were enthusiastically received by all
participants.



Former Fulbrighters share their experiences with
conference participants.



















U.S. Fulbright Commission Executive Director Dr. Mary Ellen
Schmider addresses participants.



Among the outstanding features of the conference was a
"Music Gala" featuring Fulbrighters pursuing research or
training in vocal or instrumental performance.




















An appreciative audience awards a standing ovation to
Fulbrighter performers.  They included several vocalists,
flautists, pianists and even an exceptionally gifted and
creative tuba player.



Of course, there was a little time available for sightseeing.
This is the Bode Museum, one of a seemingly endless array
of magnificent architecture from many periods.




















The building that houses Germany's equivalent of the U.S.
Congress.



Naturally, we had to sample the wurst.


















Breakfast in the hotel was always a great opportunity to get
to know the extraordinary young people in Berlin for the
conference and to hear about their Fulbright experiences. 



Back on the train for the return to Poznań.  A great experience
in Berlin, that's for sure, but it's good to be "home."