Funnel 40/2, Inhalt - Fulbright-Kommission

“ Hauptstadt Berlin” Seminar
Berlin is a big city to cover in four
days, even if you plan on concentrating
on just one aspect of it. Still,
this was the goal of the “Hauptstadt Berlin”
Seminar 2004: to introduce a group of Fulbright
American grantees, primarily from
the Young Journalists Program, to the
political scene in Germany’s capital city.
The seminar, which ran January 11-14,
2004, gave eleven grantees the opportunity
to learn about the people, institutions,
and issues important to politics in Berlin.
Over the four-day seminar, participants
became better acquainted with different
aspects of the German government.
On Monday, they visited the Federal
Chancellery (Bundeskanzleramt) and discussed
German-American relations with
Dirk Brengelmann, Head of the Division
on North America at the Federal Chancellery.
This topic was continued during a
discussion with Member of Parliament
Hans-Ulrich Klose. Mr. Klose “articulated
well the German reasons for their stance
against the Iraq war and gave candid
responses to our questions,” summarized
participant Nicole Harkin. Beyond German-American
relations, German-German
relations were also examined during a visit
to the Federal Commissioner for the
Records of the State Security Service of the
former German Democratic Republic,
where Commissioner Marianne Birthler
explained the role the archives continue to
play in the reconciliation process following
the collapse of East Germany and the subsequent
reunification.
To gain a better understanding of how
interest groups interact with the govern-
A crash course in German politics
ment in Germany, the group visited a collection
of organizations where they not only
learned more about current issues, but also
heard how each of the groups interacts with
the German government. On each of their
agendas was the need for reform of the social
security system. Participants met with representatives
from labor unions, employers,
insurers, and other organizations with a
stake in the ongoing debate. Margret
Moenig-Raane, Vice-Chairperson of the
United Services Union (ver.di), discussed
how labor unions, which traditionally have
had significant influence in German politics,
are having to adapt to meet the changing
social and economic conditions. The
group also met with representatives from
the Confederation of German Employers’
Associations (BDA) and the BfA (federal
insurance provider for employees) to get
their views on the debate. Peter Clever, a
representative of the BDA, perhaps summarized
the problem best when he said,
“everyone talks about how to distribute the
money, but what we need to talk about is
where the money will come from.”
NEWS & EVENTS 23
Fulbrighters, however, didn’t just observe
the political process from the inside.
The group visited the ARD television studios
and held discussions with journalists
such as Alumnus Stefan Elfenbein and with
Rainer Hastergs, Administrative Director
of the RIAS (Radio in the American Sector)
Commission. Talk focused on the
media and the role they play in explaining
and sometimes influencing the political
process. On Monday, participants attended
a federal press conference, which Harkin
described as turning “the standard American
press conference model on its head.”
In Germany, the Bundespressekonferenz,
an association of journalists, invites the
speakers to its press conferences instead of
the other way around.
The whirlwind seminar ended on
Wednesday with a farewell dinner at the
Ossena restaurant. There was a lot to digest,
not just great Italian food, but also the heavy
German political fare that had been dished
up over the last four days. The conversation
and discussion of what had been heard and
experienced carried on well into the evening.
THE FUNNEL • VOLUME 40 • NUMBER 2 • SUMMER 2004