Berlin, Germany – Mayor Michael Bloomberg flew from London to Germany’s capital this afternoon to receive this year’s Henry A. Kissinger Prize at the American Academy in Berlin. Bloomberg is the fourth recipient of the prize, which honors Americans or Europeans who have “made a singular contribution to the transatlantic relationship.”
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In receiving the prize at the lakeside villa that houses the Academy in Berlin’s leafy Wannsee district, Bloomberg joked that it must have come down to choosing between him and an Icelandic volcano, but that he won because of his “marginally more pronounceable name.”
Past recipients of the prize, established in 2007, include former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and President George H. W. Bush. A non-profit organization that supports the work of scholars, writers and artists through fellowships and promotes U.S.-German cultural exchange, the Academy also is headed by Norman Pearlstine, a former Time Inc. editor who is now chief content officer at Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg gave no hints about his own future political plans but in noting his fondness for Berlin, he quipped: “If I could speak German — and don’t worry, I never will…I’d challenge Mayor (Klaus Wowereit) in the next election.”
In a podium discussion with Kissinger, he noted among other things, recent moves and policy efforts to close or tighten borders to potential immigrants.
Barack Obama wins the Nobel prize for nothing. Bloomberg wins a Kissinger award? For what? Being rich?
I really wish we could purge all the rich business men from our government and reinstall the people and the constitution as the true leaders of this country.
We are learning a lot about Germany. In America we are learning how to be Fascist.
will he fly to my house (in BP) to take my ‘best of the month’ award?
The award for promoting the New World Order agenda, or as Kissinger likes to call it,”contribution to the transatlantic relationship.”