Selected Events 2007  

Engaging Eastern German Youth in the Transatlantic Dialog

Consul Mark Wenig and the students from Thuringia, Saxony and Berlin

December 3-4, 2007 Consulate General  Leipzig partnered with the Embassy’s Exchanges Section and the Thueringian State Representation Office in Berlin in organizing the 4th “Building Bridges” Conference.  Under the theme, “What is American? What is German? Youth Exploring Their Place and Identity in Society,” the symposium gave some 150 German and American students from Thuringia, Saxony and Berlin a platform to meet and voice their opinions on such issues as social responsibility, national identity and public perception.  In his welcome message, Ambassador William R. Timken Jr. told the youth, “you are the future of German-American relations,” and urged them to actively participate in shaping transatlantic ties. The 4th Building Bridges Conference addressed ways to eliminate prejudice, presented the students with an opportunity to explore each others’ cultures and ways of life, and provided them with a forum to discuss civic responsibilities and common values, thereby injecting new life into the German-American partnership.