Miraculously, It Worked the Improbable Beginnings of America’S First Post-Cold War Institution Abroad
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[PROD_10: TSP_04-SONDERTHEMEN-SONDERTHEMEN <KM_SONDER_R1E> ... 01.10.14] Autor:R_BROCKSCHMIDT 02.10.14 10:41 AMERICAN ACADEMY Twenty Years of Cultivating Relationships across the Atlantic MITTWOCH, 1. OKTOBER 2014 / NR. 22 182 SEITE B1 Miraculously, It Worked The Improbable Beginnings of America’s First Post-Cold War Institution Abroad IT ALL STARTED in a back room of Holbrooke, who was about to depart for and doers of outstanding talent and re- the Berlin Kempinski, in 1994. The “cabal” Washington as the State Department’s Di- nown. And it would do so without a penny consisted of people like Henry Kissinger, rector of European Affairs, snagged the first of government largesse. When the German Otto Graf Lambsdorff, Fritz Stern, and Ri- few million for operating expenses and for Bundestag offered to chip in a million chard von Weizsäcker. And Richard Hol- the magnificent villa on the Wannsee. The marks, the board politely declined. This brooke, the American ambassador, without building and the park had belonged to the was going to be done the “American way” – whom the Academy would never have got- Arnhold family before they were driven out as a strictly private venture, in a country ten off the ground, in 1998. There is an Eng- by the Nazis. The new owner nicely symbo- where high culture has always been funded lish word, borrowed from German and Yid- lized Germany’s postwar rebirth as a liberal by the state, starting with the princes and dish, for types like him: Macher. and inclusive democracy. This was the potentates of pre-Reich Germany. There The mission they chose to accept was “New house that the Nazis had grabbed, giving it are no officials, German or American, on Traditions.” The last American soldier would to Walther Funk, the economics minister the board. soon be gone; Berlin was “whole and free” and Reichsbank president of the Third Miraculously, it worked. again. The Academy would add a wholly new Reich. Now the Hans Arnhold Center layer to the foundation laid down in the Cold would serve a very different mission. Josef Joffe, publisher-editor of Die Zeit, War, when the Berlin Brigade stood guard in The Academy would bring the best of is a founding trustee of the American the divided city. Ideas instead of infantry, and American culture to Berlin: scholars, wri- Academy in Berlin. Reprinted from the words instead of weapons, so to speak. ters, poets, directors, conductors – thinkers 2012 edition of this supplement B2 DER TAGESSPIEGEL AMERICAN ACADEMY NR.22182 /MITTWOCH, 1. OKTOBER 2014 THREE YEARS AFTER the Isay thatIwasalso astonished.You quoteyour war, aJewish banker whohad immigratedto wordstoDr. OttoJeidels“wewillallenvyyou some GeniusLoci America received aletter from aformer acquain- day,”andyoubelievethatthisdayisnow at hand.If tance—and Nazi minister—whosought ade- youmean by thatthe peace thatDr. Jeidels has gree of absolution from his refugee recipient. found in his quiet grave on the Buergenstock far Below, aremarkable postwarexchangebetween “from all partisan hate and favor,”then youare twoGerman businessmen: right.But if youmean the fate of those driven How aprescient idea from one of America’s premier strategic thinkers became reality from Germany, then youhaveacompletely Gut Tiefenbrunn,January22, 1948 false picture. Youonly hearofthe very fewwho thanks to the generosity and openness of an eminent bankingfamily with rootsinBerlin have managed to gain afoothold hereorinother Dear Herr Arnhold! partsofthe world and believe thatyou cangene- By pure chance Ihappenedtomention youre- ralizetheir fate. Believe me, mostofthem, strewn cently in aconversation aboutold times with over the entireworld,fight hardfromdawntodusk WE BEGAN with an idea: to create a WHEN THE LASTU.S . cutoff ground access to the Western sectors, PrivyCouncilor Gassner,ofBrown Boveri, and fortheir existence, and one hearsdaily aboutnew permanent American presenceinBerlin as the troops left Berlin, in1994, afterserving as demo- described the Academyasan“intellectual learnedofyourfate. Ionly wish todaywith these miseryonthe part of manyofthose whooncehap- storied Berlin Brigade left the cityithad pro- cracy’ssentinel fornearly half acentury,many bridge” thatwill link younger generations with lines to saythatIhappilyremember ourcom- pilylived in Germany. Iknowthatthings arevery, tected throughoutthe Cold War. Henry Kissin- Germans and Americans wondered howapart- no firsthand understanding of the Cold War mon work forAllianz. Iwill notboreyou today very bad forcountlessnumbersinGermany, and I ger, Richardvon Weizsäcker,and TomFarmer nership forged in the days of the Cold Warcould connection. with news aboutmycircumstances. BeforeIdo try myself to help old friends there; but Ibelieve joined me in announcing the idea, on Septem- be sustained forfuturegenerations. Theseed moneyfor the academywas a$3mil- that, Ifirst want to knowwhether youremember thatthings still aremuchworse forthe largestpor- ber 9, 1994,the dayafter the last American In an enlightened attempt to replacethose de- lion donationfromthe familyofthe lateHans me.For,after everything thathas happenedin tion of the refugees. Noteventomention the unen- troops left the city. Butitwas onlyanidea. No parted soldiers with anew armyofscholars, ar- Arnhold, oncealeader of Berlin’s financial com- these frightful years, it would notbesurprising if ding miserythathas overtaken manythrough the building. No money. tists, critics, and writers, the American Aca- munityand aprominent patron of the 1920sar- youhavedrawn aline under these yearsthatlie cruel death thatwas the fate of manyrelations left We finallyfound abuilding, alarge villa on demyinBerlin wasformallyinaugurated today tistic scene. TheAcademywill occupythe in the past.When my friend Otto Jeidels leftGer- behind in Europe.The one thing thatthe refugees the Wannsee –not the Villa on the Wannsee, as part of aprivately funded initiative to bolster forty-room lakeside mansion in which the Arn- many–Ibelieve in 1937 –Itried to console him have to be sureofistheir freedom of thought,and butabeautiful old building thathad, in its life- American influenceinthe renascent capital of a hold familylived beforeseeking refugeinthe with the words, “Wewill all envy youyet.” I thatisworth agreat deal. time,been taken over by Hitler,ransacked by reunited Germany. United States. would be veryhappytohear from you, and am, the Russians, in 1945,and served as the Ameri- “Weare picking up the torchcarried forfifty Arnhold’sdaughter and son-in-law, Anna-Ma- with bestregards, Yours can military recreation center during the Cold yearsbysoldiersinadifferent context,”said ria and Stephen Kellen, aprominent couple in Dr.KurtSchmitt War. TheGerman government offeredittous, Henry Kissinger,the German-born immigrant NewYork’scultural and banking community, of- “You areright that butitwas arun-down mess, unusable. whobecame U.S. secretary of stateand nowser- feredthe funding grant, when Berlin’s citygo- Hans Arnhold’smoving reply, obviouslytyped Then came the miracle moment. We disco- vesasthe Academy’shonorary chairman. “If this vernment provided the familymansion on a by himself on amachine withoutumlauts –itself Ioften would like to veredthatthe villa had been the childhood initiative proves as successful forthe next fifty rent-free basis. During the military occupation acommentary on the relationship between the home of Anna-Maria Kellen, whose father, years, the whole worldwill be betteroff.” of Berlin, the villa served as arecreation center physical and spiritual burdens of even afortu- draw aline under the Hans Arnhold, wasone of Germany's leading Theidea of agreat American cultural institu- forthe United States Army, beforeitwas turned nate refugee –isamonument to the German-Je- bankersbeforethe Nazis came to power. tion at the heart of Berlin’s vibrant intellectual over to the city. wish bourgeois culturetorn asunder by Natio- My call on the Kellens at their home in 1996 scene wasconceivedfour yearsago by then-U.S. “This house has always reserved aspecial nal Socialism. past, but when one has changed allofour lives.Entering theirPark Ave- ambassador RichardC.Holbrooke, whohas mid- placefor culture,”said Anna-Maria Kellen, after nue apartment forthe firsttime,being served wifedthe project between his diplomatic chores dining in her familyhome forthe firsttime in 64 NewYork,March 25,1948 lived in Germanyfor those small triangular pieces of pumpernickel as special U.S. envoyinthe Balkans and his in- years. “It’sreassuring to knowthatits role will be laden with smoked salmon, looking at the vestment banking activities as vicechairman for preserved by the influx of so manywritersand Dear Herr Dr.Schmitt, fifty yearsand has had spectacular art, including aSalvador Dali por- Credit Suisse FirstBoston. artists.” Ihave justreceived yourfriendlyletter.Imust trait of Anna-Maria's mother,surrounded by “Wewanted to create aliving institution, not a Thefirst group of eight fellows arrivedearly confess thatIwasveryhappytoreceive your gree- good friends and was silver-framed familyportraits from another monument or amuseum,”Holbrookesaid. “No this autumn, headed by playwright Arthur Mil- tings because theycome from aperson whom I continent and another century,Isomehowfelt other country has such unique ties with the Uni- ler.Othersinclude poet C.K. Williams, writer have alwayshighly valued forhis honesty and his at home immediately.Perhaps it wasbecause I tedStates. We must not let them die outwith the Robert Kotlowitz, historians Gerald D. Feldman strong creative