By Michael Behrendt and Oliver Ohmann
Mr. President is back in the capital. Barack Obama (61) landed at BER on Tuesday evening and will remain in the city until Thursday.
From the airport we went straight to Pariser Platz. He’s staying at the Hotel Adlon right next to the US Embassy.
In the evening his first tour through Berlin. The motorcade drove from the Brandenburg Gate through the city in the direction of Schöneberg. Obama is being guarded by the police, the SEK and the US Secret Service on what is already his fifth visit to Berlin.
At 7 p.m. the presidential limousine stopped at the corner of Regensburger/Ansbacher Strasse: dinner at the fine Italian restaurant Ponte.
The Ponte restaurant. This is where Obama had dinner with Angela Merkel and her husband Joachim Sauer on Tuesday Photo: Fabian Matzerath
He was warmly welcomed in the restaurant by former Chancellor Angela Merkel (68). Her husband Joachim Sauer (74) also arrived at the restaurant shortly afterwards in his white BMW 3 Series.
Joachim Sauer, husband of ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel, on the way to the restaurant Photo: Fabian Matzerath
Then it was served. Buon appetito! Only shortly after 10:30 p.m. did the three of them leave the restaurant in a good mood. Obama waved, Merkel laughed.
It was funny at the Italian: Obama leaves the Ristorante Ponte waving Photo: Fabian Matzerath
On Wednesday, the former US President (reigned from 2009 to 2017) will appear in the Mercedes-Benz Arena at 8 p.m. Event motto: “An Evening with President Barack Obama”. In an interview with moderator Klaas Heufer-Umlauf (39), he talks about “great challenges and opportunities of our time”.
Tickets are still available – and quite a few – but expensive: from 105 to 607 euros in the VIP area!
The performance in the hall begins at 8 p.m. and lasts around 60 minutes. Tickets were available in advance from 83 euros. The amount of Obama’s fee, which is intended to benefit his foundation, is secret.
After spending the night in the Adlon, Obama flies back to the USA on Thursday morning.