A security guard looks out over the crowd gathered to hear the address by US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama in front of the Victory Column in Berlin. Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/Reuters
A crowd of about 100,000 gathered in Berlin today to hear Barack Obama's major foreign policy speech as he nears the end of a long – and generally successful – foreign tour.
Facing criticism from Republican opponent John McCain that he is inexperienced on foreign policy, the Democratic candidate has already been to Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East.
Berlin is, however, the chosen venue for the trip's main setpiece public address – a decision based largely on the city's iconic status as the backdrop for famous speeches by US presidents over the decades.
Most famously, John F Kennedy caused local rapture in 1963 by pronouncing: "Ich bin ein Berliner". In 1987, Ronald Reagan made a similarly celebrated speech in the same city, urging Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall".
Obama was due to address a huge, open-air crowd before the Victory Column war monument in the city's Tiergarten. Crowds began gathering in Berlin hours before his speech, many having to queue to get into the plaza.
Speaking to reporters ahead of his arrival in the German capital, Obama had been at pains to stress he was merely "a citizen" and not – at least not yet – a president.
However, the presidential imagery has clearly not been lost on Obama's campaign staff, who originally hoped he could speak at the Brandenburg Gate, as did Reagan, as well as Bill Clinton, who declared "Berlin is free" in 2004. Kennedy also visited the gate when in Berlin, although he made his speech elsewhere.
Obama, however, had to settle for the 69-metre Victory Column after the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, objected, saying the Brandenburg Gate was reserved for presidents, not candidates.
Before his address, Obama met Merkel for talks on Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and reducing carbon emissions.
"He applauded the chancellor's leading role in promoting international efforts on climate change and affirmed his own pledge to pursue an 80% reduction in US greenhouse gas emissions by 2050," Obama senior strategist Robert Gibbs said after the meeting.
Obama arrived in Berlin after two days in the Middle East where he outlined a newly hawkish line on Iran's nuclear programme and appealed to US Jewish voters by pledging "unshakeable commitment to Israel's security".
He also expressed concerns during meetings with the German vice-chancellor and foreign minister over strained relations between Russia and Georgia, Gibbs said. Four Russian military jets flew over Georgian airspace earlier this month, aggravating a row over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Obama emphasised "the importance of Georgia's territorial integrity, calling for restraint by all parties, and the need for a negotiated solution", Gibbs said.
His campaign organisers originally hoped the US presidential candidate would speak at the Brandenburg Gate – the site the famous "tear down this wall" speech by Ronald Reagan – but settled for the Victory Column war monument after Merkel objected to the famous landmark.
Merkel has forged a bond with fellow conservative George Bush since her election, reversing the slide in US-German relations brought on by Berlin's refusal to endorse the Iraq war.
But she appeared to warm to Obama yesterday, when she told a news conference that the young American candidate "is well-equipped physically, mentally and politically".
Reporters followed up by pressing the chancellor on the now-famous shoulder rub Bush gave her during the 2006 G8 summit in Russia. Asked whether she anticipated getting another massage from Obama or McCain, Merkel quipped: "That's not really up to me. But I wouldn't resist."
After arriving at the chancellery for his meeting with Merkel, Obama paused to wave at a group of Bavarian schoolchildren who were finishing their tour of the building when he arrived.
"We were really close," said an excited Michaela Schmid. "It was super, a real highlight."
Wellwishers cheered Obama's motorcade. As he got out of his car, one man yelled out in English, "Yes we can!" — the senator's campaign catchphrase.
Vernon Thomas, an 18-year-old American from Nebraska, who waited to see Obama, said he was astounded by the support for the Democrat in Germany.
"There are more people to see him here in Berlin than in my hometown," said Thomas. "I think he's trying to show that he is capable of handling things overseas."
