The Foreign Service Journal, November 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2019 55 The USA Pavilion Goes Forward Gert Lindenau Frankfurt, Federal Republic of Germany I n 1989 I was attached to the American consulate general in Frankfurt as director of the U.S. Travel and TourismAdmin- istration for the U.S. Department of Commerce. I was setting up the USA Pavilion at Berlin’s International Tourism Exposition where more than 280 exhibitors from across the United States were expected in March 1990 to meet tour operators and travel agents from all over the world, expanding tourism to their indi- vidual destinations and increasing awareness of their services. When the wall fell in November 1989, it sent shock waves throughout the tourism industry. My office was inundated with questions from potential exhibitors as to what would happen in March. Will all East Germany come? Will I need 100 times the brochures and information to pass out? Will it be safe from terrorists? Will there be enough hotels in Berlin? Everyone was pleased to see the communist regime implode, and many rightfully expected an increasing number of visitors to the United States in the coming years. For the last day of the exposition, I planned a tour, with the help of buses provided by the U.S. embassy, so U.S. exhibitors could view the remnants of the wall. Participants met the uniformed GDR police officers, who now were very friendly. We saw Checkpoint Charlie and crossed over to East Germany to buy souvenirs (medals, uniform shirts, hats and pieces of the actual wall). The USA Pavilion was a success even though not many visitors from East Germany were able to attend—they simply didn’t have the Western currency required to participate. The following years were different for the ITB Berlin, the world’s largest tourism-related fair, and today the United States remains the number one long-haul destination out of German-speaking markets. Gert Lindenau retired from the Foreign Service in 1993, having served with the U.S. Commerce Department and the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration. He worked for the Department of Defense in Europe until 2016 and lives with his wife near Kaiserslautern, Germany. The Berlin Wall as My “Bookend” John Nix Nicosia, Cyprus w hen the Berlin Wall fell, my wife and I were in the embassy of the Soviet Union in Nicosia, celebrating the USSR’s National Day. At the time, I was chargé d’affaires, and had been for two of the past three years. The Soviet ambas- sador, with whom I had established quite a close relationship, delivered the news to me. In fact, the Berlin Wall defined my career. After I graduated fromWest Point in 1960, my first assignment had been to Berlin as a lieutenant. Not long after my arrival, the wall went up on Aug. 13, 1961. The continuous alerts, the wall patrols, the October 1961 confrontation at Check- point Charlie, the many attempts at border crossings by desperate Germans from East Germany— all became iconic pictures I will never forget. Also in the picture: my then-fiancée, now wife of 57 years, who had been born in East Germany and had many relatives there. I had one further assignment to Berlin as an Army officer, from 1969 to 1971, during a somewhat quieter period, when border crossings were more peaceful. After joining the Foreign Service in 1971, we were posted in Moscow and were able to take the Moscow-Berlin train roundtrip twice, after Washington’s diplomatic recognition of East Germany. At the time the wall fell, I had just learned that my next assign- ment would be as political adviser (POLAD) to the U.S. mission in Berlin, effectively the deputy chief of mission. We participated in the Two Plus Four negotiations that ensured the withdrawal of Soviet military forces from Eastern Europe, and then the German unification process, followed by many more events that most of us thought we would never see in our lifetimes. I traveled and reported extensively on the former East Ger- many, and our efforts were recognized by the State Department’s 1991 Post Reporting Award. In the East we met with, and boosted, future German leaders such as Angela Merkel and JoachimGauck. Exciting times, indeed. John Nix served in the U.S. Foreign Service for 25 years, after a career in the U.S. Army. He retired as a Senior Foreign Service officer and lives in Ashburn, Virginia. After I graduated from West Point in 1960, my first assignment had been to Berlin as a lieutenant. Not long after my arrival, the wall went up. –John Nix