A hands-on operator

By Thomas Kielinger

A diplomatic victory

Early 2000 and Hans-Friedrich von Ploetz, Germany's new voice on Belgrave Square was in full stride. A 'hands-on' operator as one would say in the US, where in 1978 we first made each others acquaintance back in the innocent days of the Carter Administration. Direct, to the point and down to earth, so he always struck me, both then as an attaché at the German Embassy in Washington's Reservoir Road, and again twenty years later as 'our man' here in London. And ambitious, yes I would add that to my list of adjectives, both a virtue and a vice, to which I too had to succumb if I wished to succeed as a correspondent in the USA.

A little anecdote from those days. Scene: A reception at the Germany Embassy with guest of honour Zbigniew Brzezinski. In those days Carter's National Security Adviser was a path to all things worth knowing about, and an exchange of views with him, if only brief, was almost like a trophy on the social-political circuit. Thus, dodging and weaving their way through the throng, two men from opposite sides of the floor made a beeline to Brzezinski, arriving at exactly the same moment and then attempting courteously, but determinedly, to claim the coveted spot. Of course the diplomat won, a victory for him, but one which did not feel to me like a capitulation. As I recalled this scene to von Ploetz in early 2000 he laughed as though over a joke he had lodged somewhere in his memory, but which he could no longer find.

When, subsequently, we discovered that we also shared the same date and year of birth it added a personal touch to our newly emerging professional dialogue. I can only recall with great pleasure our numerous meetings, both of us in the same roles as before: the diplomat and the foreign correspondent. The two diverging perspectives made for a fruitful exchange, but his experience in the realm of higher politics obviously gave him the upper hand – much to my benefit. Into the scales he could throw an English grandmother and I my forty-year love affair with the sceptred isle. Both of us, then, had more than just a fleeting acquaintance with our opposite numbers, the Brits.

Education, education, education

I will never forget accompanying von Ploetz on his visit to the West Midlands in the summer of 2000, where I was able to witness first hand the ambassador pitching for his favourite topic: Education, education, education, with particular regard to the woeful state of foreign language teaching in the UK. Refreshingly „undiplomatic" in his manner he avoided platitudes in favour of convictions, making everyone forget his official function - a personable style which was well received. Von Ploetz was skilled at making his case, side-stepping as he did that well-known German reticence when promoting their own culture, and instead relying on the force of his argument. A German - without being patronising or a know-it-all. Among those he spoke to he was able to kindle enthusiasm and the spirit of cooperation. Not only did he find a general consensus on the need for furthering foreign language teaching in the UK, he also came away with many an agreed new venture, such as experiments in vocational training and exchange programmes for teachers and schoolchildren.

Of course whether the host country develops and continues such programmes is beyond the abilities of even the most skilful diplomat to influence. The sobre von Ploetz never underestimated how incredibly difficult it is to sell the importance of learning languages in a country whose own tongue has become the world's lingua franca, a fact which understandably can diminish any urge to learn another language. In spite of this he never gave up hope that he could at least make a difference and inspire new thinking. If at first you don't succeed...

His own man

His final message was – how could it be otherwise – characteristically straightforward and „undiplomatic". At the twentieth anniversary celebration at the German School Richmond, he permitted himself a sideways glance at that latent and sometimes not-so-latent xenophobia to which Germans in particular so often fall victim to, to the extent that the pupils of the school in Richmond are frequently advised to avoid speaking in their own language when using public transportation so as not to draw unwanted attention. Von Ploetz broached the subject more in sorrow than in anger, a typical anglophile, to boot, who found it hard to reconcile this ugly phenomenon with the England that he - and most Germans – have always looked up to and respected.

Such is the man I have always known - someone who doesn't suffer fools gladly, nor, even less, bigots. Ambassador or not, he is his own enlightened self, „unformattable" by others and determined to follow his own style.

Thomas Kielinger is the London correspondent of the German broadsheet "Die Welt". In the 60s he was a Lektor at the German Department at the University of Cardiff and in 1993 the Cardiff School of Journalism made him an honorary fellow. He also works for the BBC and appears regularly on Dateline London, a discussion forum for foreign correspondents based in the capital. He is author of 'Crossroads and Roundabouts', a wry look at German-British relations.

Enlarge image Ambassador von Ploetz trying to convince schoolchildren to learn German