The 50th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty, which formalized the reconciliation of France and Germany following decades of war, was celebrated in Atlanta at the shared offices of the Alliance Française and Goethe-Zentrum Atlanta on January 22, 2013. Vicki Birchfield, associate professor at The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, introduced the guests, including Amélie de Gaulle, great niece of Charles de Gaulle, and Annette Cantor-Groenfeldt, the granddaughter of Konrad Adenauer.

The treaty was signed in the Elysée Palace, the official residence of the president of France near the Champs-Elysées in Paris, on January 22, 1963, by Mr. de Gaulle, while president of France, and Mr. Adenauer, Germany’s chancellor at the time.

About 120 guests attended the event, sponsored by the French and German consulates general.

(Exerpted from a Global Atlanta article. Read the full piece.)