The Bridge New York - Berlin
February 19, 2002
He saw on television how the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center last September, Germany's deputy foreign minister, Ludger Volmer, tells the New York City students. But they aren't impressed. They saw the attack right in front of their doors.
The 25 young men and women visiting Germany attend schools in the immediate vicinity of the World Trade Center. And the changed skyline of New York has disrupted their lives. Now, they're spending a week in Berlin, Heidelberg, Stuttgart and Munich to help them get their minds on different matters.
German inspiration
Last October, while Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was visiting "Ground Zero" with former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, he invited 1,000 students directly affected by the terrorist attacks to come to Germany as a sign of solidarity. The exchange program "The Bridge New York - Berlin" is financed by German companies under the coordination of DaimlerChrysler.
The students have already discovered that they have something in common with the Berliners: the experience of destruction and rebuilding. "The Germans didn't give up either when their country lay in ruins after the Second World War," says one young man.
For him, Germany is a prime example that things can move forward again following a horrible experience. "Germany did not quit, did not give up on hope and they rebuilt!"
Many of the students have never been to Europe before. Some are almost amazed at the amount of sympathy they've come across here, so far away from New York.
Schröder will meet with the students later on Tuesday at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin. The US Ambassador to Germany, Dan Coats, will also take part in the meeting.
Further student groups are expected at Easter and during summer vacation.