Last Ambassador to the GDR Welcomed Eye Witness of History
October 7-9, 2009. Richard C. Barkley, last American Ambassador to the GDR (East Germany) was guest of honor in Saxony for the celebration of the 20
th anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution in the Eastern part of Germany. Ambassador Barkley gave two major interviews in Dresden, one for Frank Grubitzsch of
Saechsische Zeitung, the largest daily newspaper in Saxony's capital and the region, and one for
MDR 1 Radio Sachsen. Furthermore, on October 8, Ambassador Barkley was Dresden's guest of honor and delivered greeting remarks at the official event at which the Lord Mayor of Dresden Helma Orosz, Saxony's Minister President Stanislaw Tillich and the new President of Saxony's Parliament Matthias Rößler, together with about 3.000 citizens, commemorated and honored the civil rights movement of 1989, which eventually led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. On October 9, Ambassador Barkley attended the official ceremony of the Free State of Saxony in Leipzig.
New American Studies Leipzig Students Visit Consulate
October 6, 2009. 36 new students of the American Studies program at Leipzig University visited the U.S. Consulate General as part of their orientation week. Consul for Public Affairs James Seward and Consul for Political and Economic Affairs Edith Backman talked to the students about the work and tasks of a Consulate and Information Resource Center (IRC), and IRC director Mechthild Hoelker explained the work of the IRC and how the students can take advantage of the research resources and expertise available at the IRC. A lively Q/A followed the presentation.
Texas Tech University Hosts Concert Celebrating German Unification in Quedlinburg
October 4, 2009. Leipzig Consul for Public Affairs James Seward, along with a former U.S. Ambassador of Ethiopia and a small delegation from the university in Lubbock, Texas joined the 150 guests at the operatic recital at St. Blasii Church to celebrate 20 years of German unity. The event focused on Texas Tech University's (TTU) international academic program and its' contributions to the surrounding community. The program began in 1991 in Wust and moved to Quedlinburg in 2005. At the TTU Center in Quedlinburg, students take classes focusing on language, culture and community while fulfilling their foreign language requirements and living with host families. Since 2005, 70 students have completed the program.
1st Grade Students in Saxony Cheerfully Wave American Flags
October 1, 2009. Consul for Public Affairs James Seward, an American intern and one Information Resource Center (IRC) staffer took part in an American Day at the Bautzen public library for children and young adults, continuing the annual series settled in the framework of post's "America @ Your Library" programming. Following a donation of children books to the library Consul for Public Affairs James Seward's contributed the English part to a bilingual reading of
The Very Hungry Caterpillar providing 50 1
st grade students with a kickstart in English. The afternoon session focused on U.S. current domestic and international policy issues for some 60 11
th and 12
th grade students. The mayor of Bautzen, Germany, Christian Schramm, invited Mr. Seward to say: "Ich bin ein Bautzener," echoing President Kennedy's famous line in Berlin.
McCloy Fellows in Jena
September 28, 2009. Leipzig Consul for Public Affairs James Seward joined Jena Mayor Albrecht Schroeter to greet four American urban administrators visiting Jena during their study tour of Germany. They are fellowship recipients from the John J. McCloy Fund of the American Council on Germany. The fund, established in 1975 to honor the former U.S. Military Governor and High Commissioner, launched the fellowship program in 1976 to give young German and American professionals the opportunity to learn about one another's countries and establish transatlantic partnerships. Among the four Americans are a mayor of a rural Nebraska community, a public works official from Palm Bay, Florida, and a deputy administrator each from Gilbert, Arizona and Santa Barbara, California.
Going for the Young Future Multipliers
September 24, 2009. U.S. Consulate General Leipzig once again hosted twelve journalism trainees of regional broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) for a day-long workshop on the U.S. and how it is represented in this region of Germany, who will receive professional radio, TV and on-line reporting experience over the next 18 months. The aspiring journalists engaged Consul General Katherine Brucker and the Leipzig Consulate staff in a frank discourse on topics ranging from U.S. health care reform to Afghanistan, the financial crisis or how a diplomat deals with issues of conscience or ethics. In the afternoon, Professor Hope Harrison, currently in Germany on a Fulbright Senior Researcher Award, gave a fascinating account of her experiences as an American in Berlin on November 9, 1989 and as a historian working on how nations deal with their past. The program concluded with a dual video conference with the Berlin-based Information Resource Center coordinator who explained the Embassy's Eyewitness (Zeitzeugen) project which chronicles on video U.S. relations with the former GDR in its final years.
Leipzig " Meet Us" in High Gear
Students from throughout Leipzig's consular district have recently taken part in several "Meet US" programs, several of them taking advantage of the beautifully renovated IRC facility on the Consulate General premises.
September 24 and 25, 2009. Leipzig Consulate staffer Kirsten Teschauer discussed German American stereotypes with a total of 65 students from Salzmannschule Schnepfenthal plus 2 groups from a vocational school in Frankenhausen, Thuringia.
September 28, 2009. 13 students and their French teacher from Reclam Gymnasium Leipzig visited Consul General Katherine Brucker in reponse to an invitation to visit the Consulate which Consul General Katherine Brucker extended during her June 23 reading at the school from the book The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which was part of the series "Leipzig Prominent Figures Read to the Youths" (Leipziger Prominente Lesen für Jugendliche). In addition to meeting the Consul General, they received an introduction to the work of the Consulate and IRC resources, and took part in a talk about the Obama administration.
September 30, 2009. Shanon Self, a former American intern now an English trainer in Leipzig, gave a power point presentation about high school life in the United States to 20 eighth graders from a Hoyerswerda, Saxony gymnasium.
September 30, 2009. Leipzig Consulate staffer Kirsten Teschauer travelled to Mittweida, Saxony to meet 27 8th graders for another presentation outlining German-American stereotypes, and Consul for Public Affairs James Seward made his way to Torgau, Saxony, for an event with some 15 students plus 10 teachers and parents from the project group „our hearts are with you 2009" from a local vocational school. The project involves an annual visit of students from Torgau with a partner school in Lindenhurst, Long Island, and a lively week in New York City.
Leipzig Consul General Adds American Flavour to English Classes
September 22, 2009. "I am from a reading family," Consul General Katherine Brucker opened her two-part Meet US series at the Glauchau public library with some 80 4
th graders from the local international elementary school. The America@YourLibrary program umbrella provided a perfect setting for the reading from Kate Seredy's prize-winning 1935 novel
The Good Master followed by lively Q&A sessions about the life of a diplomat. The young students were filled with curiosity and asked many questions. Between sessions, Nico Tippelt, a new member of the Saxony parliament following the recent state elections and an educator by profession, used the opportunity to meet with Consul General Katherine Brucker to express his support for the program.
American Photo-Artist Chronicles City in Transition
September 17, 2009. Leipzig Consul for Public Affairs James Seward delivered remarks at the opening of an exhibition by American photographer Fredrick Marsh at the Museum of Technology in Saxony's capital city Dresden. Marsh's exhibition, entitled "Transitions - The Dresden Project" is a product of the sister-city partnership between Dresden and Columbus, Ohio, which Leipzig Consulate staff strongly supports. Marsh's photo-artist eye was fascinated by the dramatic changes the city has been undergoing since the unification of Germany in 1989 - and equally by the persistent reminders of the previous era. Marsh has made 11 visits to the city to capture images of stasis and dramatic change.
Lynchburg Deputy Mayor in Glauchau
September 16, 2009. Leipzig Consul for Public Affairs James Seward and Leipzig Consulate staffer Beate Renker met deputy mayor Bert Dodson and his wife from Lynchburg, Virginia, in the city of Glauchau. The visit is part of an ongoing Sister City exchange, supported by Consulate General Leipzig that has seen several reciprocal visits of citizens. In his remarks Consul Seward emphasized the vital role that sister city programs like this one play in cementing and deepening relations between Germany and the United States.
Dancing for Democracy and Freedom
September 14-22, 2009. The Battery Dance Company engaged 98 students from seven different schools in Dessau-Rosslau and Bitterfeld-Wolfen and ten teaching artists from NYC -- themselves hailing from six countries, in the project "Dancing to Connect" (DTC) to develop their own choreographies in small groups, which gave artistic expression to the 20
th anniversary and the legacy of the "Peaceful Revolution of 1989". The final performance on September 22 met the audience's enthusiastic response and repeated applause. Throughout the rehearsals, Consul General Katherine Brucker and Consul for Public Affairs James Seward had been repeatedly on the scene demonstrating the Consulate's interest and support. After the performance local contacts joined the Consulate staff for a reception.
For previous programs and events please click here.
