Oct 17, 2017
On October 17, 2017 more than 200 German students from 13 schools in Berlin and Brandenburg met at a conference at FEZ-Berlin to discuss the history and future of transatlantic relations. The main topics of the discussion were the humanistic free-democratic values that Germany and the U.S. have been sharing and strengthening over the past 70 years. In honor of John F. Kennedy's 100th birthday students met with witnesses of Kennedy's visit to Berlin and then worked together in small groups to exchange ideas on freedom, peace keeping, tolerance, solidarity, justice, and visions for the joint friendship between the two nations. Questions concerning these values were then brought up in a plenary session with the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the U.S. Embassy, Mr. Kent Logsdon, Executive Director of the German-American Fulbright Commission Dr. Oliver Schmidt, and other transatlantic players. Questions on cultural exchange, societal values, and the relationship between the U.S. and Germany were the focus of the discussion.
Partnering the State Institute for Schools and Media (LISUM), the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Berlin and Brandenburg Administrations for Education and the American Jewish Committee, the event set the goal of giving a sustainable impulse to young people to maintain a vibrant discussion that engages the U.S. and Germany’s friendship, which remains vital to our mutual democracies.
