250 Years of the USA: A German Assessment Between Dream and Disillusionment

From Enemy to Ally

After the Second World War, the image of the USA in West Germany changed rapidly. The Berlin Airlift with its "Raisin Bomber" flights, the care packages and the Marshall Plan transformed the former enemy into an admired protective power in a remarkably short time, historians describe. John F. Kennedy's speech "Ich bin ein Berliner" in West Berlin has since been regarded as the pinnacle of German-American enthusiasm. Joseph Hilsenrath from Bad Kreuznach recalled on television how, as a child in 1941, after years of fleeing from the National Socialists, he saw the Statue of Liberty emerge from the Atlantic fog: "Es war einfach unfassbar. Dieses Gefühl hat mich nie verlassen."

In the GDR, by contrast, America was portrayed as an imperialist class enemy, while many residents nevertheless dreamed of visiting the Rocky Mountains or the Manhattan skyline after retirement – including a young Angela Merkel. In West Germany in the 1970s, the Vietnam trauma and the Watergate scandal became a turning point: previously positive images were permanently darkened. In the following decades, relations continued to cool, including under conservative President George W. Bush. In 2008, more than 200,000 people then celebrated the then presidential candidate Barack Obama at the Berlin Victory Column before he was elected – a last great moment of German-American euphoria.

Historian Volker Depkat, known for his Deutschlandfunk podcast "Amerika verstehen," places the phases in a larger framework: "Die Amerika-Bilder der Deutschen bewegen sich seit jeher im Spannungsfeld zwischen Traum und Albtraum." Criticism of America in this context is often "enttäuschte Liebe: Warum ist Amerika nicht so, wie wir es gerne hätten?". Germans have projected their own hopes of freedom and democracy onto the USA, hopes that only rarely had anything to do with the realities there.

Warnings of Further Erosion

Today, cracks are showing even in the more recent past. Butter explains that long-standing bonds between Germany and the USA have now been severed: "Da sind jetzt Verbindungen gekappt worden. Und auch vielen proamerikanisch eingestellten Deutschen ist klar geworden, dass sich die USA langfristig von Europa weg orientieren. Das Verhältnis ändert sich definitiv." A serious forecast for the future of the relationship is hardly possible given the volatility: "Ich glaube, die Situation ist aktuell so volatil, dass man dazu keine seriöse Prognose abgeben kann."

Depkat goes even further. The notion of a transatlantic community of values is a thing of the past: "Das wird nicht wiederkommen. Die Entfremdung zwischen Deutschland und den USA hat sicher nicht erst mit Trump begonnen, aber er fungiert jetzt als Abrissbirne, die gar nichts mehr stehen lässt. Dieser Schaden ist irreparabel. Was vielleicht bleibt, ist die Idee von Freiheit und Selbstbestimmung." Butter also warns that an erosion of democratic institutions would in the longer term also affect the pop-cultural appeal of the USA: "Sollten da Dinge systematisch ins Wanken geraten und vielleicht auch fallen, wird das irgendwann auch Einfluss auf die popkulturelle Dimension haben. Dann wäre Amerika so weit von seinem ursprünglichen Idealbild entfernt, dass es seine Strahlkraft auch auf anderen Gebieten einbüßen würde."

Culture Remains, Politics Becomes Alienated

The images of Kennedy's assassination – Jackie Kennedy's blood-splattered pink suit, little John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting at the Arlington grave – are deeply imprinted on many older Germans. Depkat also recalls post-war debates in which educated circles polemicized against supposedly youth-endangering dance styles and violence-glorifying comics from the USA: "Amerika, das Land ohne Kultur – das war damals immer noch ein viel gehörter Vorwurf."

Despite all political alienation, cultural fascination remains tangible. Pop star Taylor Swift's wedding is being eagerly anticipated in the German media, US series like "Stranger Things" and "Euphoria" are breaking streaming records in this country. American football and basketball are also continuing to gain popularity in Germany. However, special operations by the US immigration agency ICE, some with fatal outcomes, have reminded critics of Gestapo methods. So, 250 years after Philadelphia, the situation stands between longing and disillusionment, between pop culture and political reality, between shared history and an increasingly open question about the future.

(Provided by dpa-infocom, reference: dpa:260703-930-325899/1.)