Town Hall Meeting

Aachen: “Why the Future Needs a Close German-American Partnership“

At the RWTH Aachen, Ambassador Murphy spoke about the partnership between the United States and Germany.  While traditionally extremely close and stable, this relationship has not always been regarded as a matter of course in recent years.
Ambassador Murphy, however, has repeatedly insisted that the partnership between the United States and Germany is more important than ever these days: Germany has become one of the most important partners of the U.S. in the face of major global challenges.  He therefore urgently advocates a strengthening and expansion of these transatlantic ties in an era characterized by multipolar relationships. Topical issues such as Afghanistan , economic and financial matters, or climate policies show that this partnership needs sustained fostering and has to be continually developed across various current affairs.

In Aachen, Ambassador Murphy presented his personal list of American and transatlantic heroes, which included personalities as diverse as Brandt and Kennedy, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. Based on their example, and also in view of the current international democracy movements, Ambassador Murphy urged his young public to become personally involved in matters of social justice. Even today, Murphy insisted, democracy was not only created by established leaders, but in bottom-up movements and in seemingly hopeless situations. And even today, decisions made by the post-war generation were decisive for current transatlantic relations between Germany and the United States, but their future now rests upon the young generation of pupils which constituted a large part of the audience.

The public was cordially invited to enter an active and lively discussion with Ambassador Murphy, and met the invitation with great enthusiasm for transatlantic dialogue, as well as critical questions ranging from Libya to Wikileaks, or transatlantic differences regarding the death penalty.

Philip D. Murphy has been the U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany since September 2009 and actively participates in German life with his entire family. Ambassador Murphy knows Germany very well; among other positions, he headed Goldman Sachs’ German office in Frankfurt from 1993 to 1997. Murphy held various top-level positions during his 23 years with Goldman Sachs, and was eventually appointed the bank’s Senior Director in 2003. Three years later, he switched over to the field of politics and served as the National Finance Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2006-2009. In addition to his professional career, Ambassador Murphy has devoted substantial time over the years to civic, community, and philanthropic affairs.  


German newspaper articles:
Aachener Nachrichten: "Ein Schwur auf die Freundschaft" (24.03.2011)
Aachener Zeitung: "Viele Dinge, die verbinden. Wenige, die trennen." (24.03.2011)
Aachener Zeitung: " Die Partnerschaft ist hervorragend. Daran ändert sich nichts." (25.03.2011)