A warm farewell

By Dr. Rolf Breitenstein
First Counsellor, Press, 1972-1977

Candlelight, the glimmer of crystal glasses and the low murmur of conversation reflected post-prandial contentment. The occasion was a fare-well dinner given by the German Ambassador Karl-Günther von Hase for Sir "Nico" Henderson, who was departing for Bonn as the new British Ambassador. The table had been cleared, the toasts proposed, coffee and brandy were about to be served when, unexpectedly,the host rose and said quietly, "Ladies and gentlemen, we intended to give a warm send-off to Sir Nico. But we Germans always overdo things. I have just been told that a fire has broken out so I would ask you to adjourn and move downstairs for coffee."

I have forgotten everything else about that evening, but the exemplary cool displayed by the Ambassador is remembered with pleasure. Humorously he complimented his guests downstairs without panic. The fire was actually smouldering in the ceiling of the dining-room. At the bottom of the stairs we passed a little girl in her nightdress, one of the Ambassador's daughters, who was sitting there holding a cage with her budgie in her lap.

Every cloud has a silver lining and, evidently, fire clouds have too. For, as the firemen were hurrying upstairs and tearing into the stucco ceiling to get at the fire, the Ambassador gazed at the scene of destruction and said, not wholly despairing. "Now at any rate Bonn will have to foot the bill." The Foreign Ministry had so far baulked at all requests for redecorating the Embassy in time for the State Visit of the Federal President, Gustav Heinemann. But in view of the damage caused, they now had to give in. So a new dining-room ceiling was ready in time for the President's visit. Heinemann, not a man given to ostentations, was touched by the welcome he received in London. To crown his visit he announced the creation of an "Anglo-German Foundation for the Study of Industrial Society".

Together with the Foreign Minister, Walter Scheel, the President met members of the British and German press on the final day to report that everything had gone well and also to explain the purpose of the new Foundation. It would, he said, also enable those working in industry at various levels, from directors to workers and trades unionists, to visit and study the other country. A British reporter raised his arm: "What could German trades unionists possibly learn in Britain?" he asked. There was an awkward silence, what with wild-cat strikes and demarcation disputes being rife in Britain. But the Foreign Minister saved the situation with his quick reply: "English", he said. "They could learn English."