Obama to speak in Berlin Thursday at 7:00 PM - 1:00 PM (EST)

[mia]

http://blogs.dw-world.de/acrossthepond/michael/1.6837.html

How Obama Will Spent His One Day In Berlin

Now that the decision where Barack Obama will speak in Berlin has finally been made, more and more details about his visit have been made public. According to German media reports, the Democratic presidential candidate will stay in Berlin for one day before continuing his whirlwind tour through Europe.

Here's how Obama, according to German press reports, will spend his time in the German capital: He will arrive on Thursday morning at Tegel airport in his new Obama One plane, featuring his campaign logo and slogan. Obama then will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Chancellory around noon. They will have a photo taken, but not give a joint press conference, since Obama is a candidate and not an official state guest. At 2 pm Obama will meet with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. According to press reports, he might spend the rest of the afternoon taking what has been described as a private walk through Berlin, visiting places of significance to German-American relations such as Tempelhof Airport, Checkpoint Charlie, the historic Bernauer Straße or the Holocaust Memorial.

Obama's much debated speech at the Victory Column is scheduled for 7 pm and will last up to one hour. Obama will stay at the Berlin Intercontinental Hotel and will head to Paris at 9 pm Friday morning. Until now, no details how Obama will spend the rest of the evening after his speech have been published.

Since Obama's only public speech in Europe at Berlin's Victory Column is a public, free event without much prior notice, Berlin officials are not quite sure how many people to expect. Estimates range from 10,000 to one million. (If the weather is nice, my guess is the number would be closer to one million than to 10,000.) Officials are in a hurry to prepare the area around Großer Stern, which will be open to the public as of 4 pm. Obama was given the second highest security status by German officials, the highest being granted only to the heads of state of the United States, Israel, and Russia....

[Ichingcarpenter]

1. Plenty of Sunlight left in the day if it starts at 7

Sunset doesn't happen until after 9 and dusk last longer, so the
crowds will be clearly visible.

[mia]

2. Hope the weather is nice - up to a million people expected.

"If the weather is nice, my guess is the number would be closer to one million."

[monmouth]

3. And the timing is perfect so working people will be able to attend..n/t

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. The forecast is very good

Thursday
Scattered Clouds. High: 80° F. / 27° C. Wind NE 8 mph. / 14 km/h.

Thursday Night
Scattered Clouds. Low: 62° F. / 17° C. Wind NE 8 mph. / 14 km/h.

[mia]

5. Looks like ideal weather.

Thanks for the report.