Possible Obama visit to Berlin divides German government

BERLIN (Reuters) - A row about whether Barack Obama is welcome at Berlin's most famous landmark erupted on Wednesday between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Merkel's spokesman said she opposed a possible appearance by the Democratic presidential candidate at the Brandenburg Gate, while Steinmeier said Germany would be honored by a visit to the city the United States kept free in the Cold War.

The Obama campaign said last month the Illinois senator planned to visit Germany, France, Britain and Jordan this summer but no further details have been released.

Merkel, the leader of the conservative Christian Democrats, and Steinmeier, foreign minister and a leader in the rival Social Democrats, could face off in next year's parliamentary elections.

They have sparred only on occasion on foreign policy issues during the past three years of awkward coalition government before their differences spilled into the public on Wednesday.

"She has little sympathy for the Brandenburg Gate being used for electioneering and has expressed her doubts about the idea," said Thomas Steg, Merkel's spokesman at a news conference, adding that Merkel felt it was "odd" for Obama to speak at the Brandenburg Gate.

But Steinmeier's spokesman Jens Ploetner immediately contradicted Steg about the possible visit to the Brandenburg Gate, now a symbol of German unity after being trapped right behind the Berlin Wall in a no-man's land during the Cold War.

"The foreign minister doesn't feel it's 'odd' at all," said Ploetner, sitting next to Steg, in rare display of dissent.

"It would be a remarkable gesture if a U.S. presidential candidate were to visit Europe and make Berlin the focal point of his trip," Ploetner said, adding that decisions on how any visit is organized is up to the city of Berlin.

Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, a leader the centre-left SPD, made it clear he would welcome a visit by Obama to Berlin and the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of the government quarter.

Steinmeier also strengthened the offer in an interview to be published on Thursday in the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper.

"The Americans played a decisive role in saving Berlin and we should do everything we can to make possible for visits to historic locations like the Brandenburg Gate," he said.

By contrast, Steg said that Merkel believes it is "unusual for a U.S. election campaign to be staged abroad". Merkel did appear with former U.S. president George Bush in front of the Brandenburg Gate next to the new U.S. embassy on Friday.

Obama is hugely popular in Germany. An opinion poll published on Sunday in Bild am Sonntag newspaper found 72 percent of Germans would vote for him if they could.

U.S. President George W. Bush has avoided Berlin on four of his five trips to Germany, including his last visit in June.