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Dear readers,

On August 13, 1961, almost exactly 60 years ago the construction of the Berlin Wall started. Remnants of this monstrous structure still remind us today in Berlin and elsewhere of the former painful division of our country. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, a division that seemed insurmountable for decades was overcome. The peaceful revolution in Germany was successful in the end. We are celebrating the 31st birthday of German unity these days.

Today we are facing other global challenges such as the COVID pandemic and the climate crisis. Both developments caught us off guard. At least the COVID pandemic has shown that we are not completely helpless when faced with such adversities. The international cooperation between German and Canadian companies here in B.C. led to the rapid development of BionTech's vaccine in Germany - a great success for science and research in Germany and Canada.

Germany and Canada are celebrating 50 years of scientific and technical cooperation this year. Delegations from North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony will travel to Vancouver this year. The visit of Prime Minister John Horgan to Düsseldorf, planned for the end of October, will also help to deepen the cooperation between British Columbia and Germany.

Climate change is no longer a distant, abstract phenomenon, but a very real threat, as we learned this summer. Drought, record heat, heavy rain, floods, forest fires all over the world.

We cannot forget the pictures from the flooded Ahr valley in Western Germany and the burned villages in the heart of British Columbia. We would like to thank you for the sympathy we have received from you, Prime Minister Horgan, and from the local population.

Together with the cities of Dortmund, Vancouver and Pittsburgh, we are thinking these days about how we can organize our cities to be more livable and environmentally friendly again. Urban farming could help us to increase local food security, reduce transport costs and, last but not least, improve the quality of our food. At the same time, this leads to the greening of our cities.

“Together in E-motion” was the motto of a series of events that recently not only impressively conveyed the advantages of e-mobility made in Germany, but also reminded us of the contributions made by Germans to the development of Vancouver. Our goal is to be able to offer “German Heritage Tours” in the future as well.

Let me come to the core message of the Day of German Unity: History has shown us that political changes can be made peacefully if you believe in yourself and your mission. This should give us confidence about the future.

Best regards,

Dr. Klaus Schmidt
Generalkonsul

Curriculum Vitae

Consul General Dr. jur. Klaus Schmidt
Born November 27, 1956 in Würzburg
Married, two children