Campaign Spot reader Tim tells me Berliner Morgenpost is reporting that the Obama campaign and Berlin city authorities have agreed on the location for his speech next week, the Great Star (Grosser Stern), where seven streets intersect. It lies in the middle of the big park in the center of Berlin, the Tiergarten.

It is a totally non-descript place except for one thing. The Victory Column (Siegessaeule) is there and Sen. Obama will speak directly in front of it. The Victory Column is a tower over 70m high and is a monument to Prussia’s victories in wars against Denmark, Austria and France in the 19th century.

I don’t have much of a complaint with Obama speaking in front of a Prussian War memorial — almost any site seems to have potential for an off-key memory or context — but Tim sees problems:

Sen. Obama will certainly get his cheering crowd and will most likely appear “Presidential” on TV news. I don’t think, though, that he will help himself much with other European countries by appearing in front of what they regard with justification as a monument to Prussian militarism (which also cost American lives). This will likely be something long remembered negatively throughout Europe. I suppose that Sen. Obama will next choose to speak at the Yasukuni shrine when he goes to Japan.

I just wonder if Obama will address the crowd from the top of the statue, like Bono in “Stay (Faraway So Close).”

. Above: Bono laying the groundwork for Obama’s speech, 15 years ago.