speeches

Quedlinburg, March 16th 2007

Dear Mr. Mayor,
Dear Dr. Brink,
Dear Ambassador Nagy,
Dear Dr. Köhler,
Dear Dr. McClain, dear Meredith
Ladies and gentlemen,

The U.S. Consulate General in Leipzig has two main functions -- to provide services to American citizens, and to carry out U.S. Government policy, including at times official business involving the state governments of Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia or cities in this region.

But another important task of the consulate is to improve and build on the relationships of common citizens in this region with people in the United States.

We do this by:
o helping U.S. companies enter the market here and advising German companies about doing business in America;
o speaking to organizations such as Rotary and Lions Clubs, chambers of commerce, associations and clubs, university seminars and classrooms in secondary schools;
o bringing American experts to speak on topics of current interest, as well as writers and artists -- not necessarily to advocate current U.S. policy as we diplomats do, but to share their personal expertise;
o advising private activists and city officials in the development of sister-city partnerships with American municipalities;
o and simply coming in contact. In this seventeenth year of Germany’s reunification, it still happens that I meet people who have never met an American before.

I think it is important that we round out the image of America that people receive from the entertainment industry or from German news media. Our small staff can’t be everywhere we want to be in our district, and alone we can’t satisfy the healthy curiosity about the United States that I find characterizes the people of Mitteldeutschland. In our efforts to bring America closer to people here, we in Consulate General Leipzig don’t have the help that our colleagues in Munich or Frankfurt have – thousands of American military service members and their families – nor the American business presence that the consular districts of Düsseldorf and Hamburg have long enjoyed.

And so I am especially pleased every time I learn of American university students spending time in our region, either as exchange students in one of Mitteldeutschland’s fine universities, as Fulbright teaching assistants supporting the English instruction in a local school, or in an immersion program such as that developed here in Quedlinburg by Texas Tech University, under the leadership of Professor Meredith McClain.

I had the good fortune to meet Professor McClain fairly early in my tenure as Consul General, and it was a pleasure to welcome her and the Fall 2005 Red Raider students to our consulate. That group stands out in my memory as informal ambassadors for the United States, as in November 2005 we together, the Texas Tech group and several of us from the Consulate, attended the annual “Stammtisch” event hosted by a major regional radio station. Host families in the historic Thuringian city of Altenburg enjoyed a small bit of Texas, while the students could practice their German with young business people and other participants in the event.

Fortunately, the Texas Tech program is not alone in this region. Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg has conducted a lively exchange with the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point since 1991. Each year about 20 American students come over for a semester. Their main objective is to improve their German language skills. In addition, the semester program offers plenty of opportunities to explore German society, culture and to network with German youth. Last year in December, the then current group visited the Consulate for an afternoon discussion and a tour of the Information Resource Center (IRC). Afterwards, they toured the Leipzig’s Contemporary History Museum (Zeitgeschichtliches Forum) where they learned about reunification. Then they enjoyed the Christmas market.

The Technical University Freiberg (Saxony) as well as the Bauhaus University Weimar host students from James Madison University and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, respectively. Students participate in local theater performances and/or art exhibitions.

As I indicated earlier, Fulbrighters (students and teaching assistants – TAs - alike) study in the region each year. In fact, two TAs brought the "Battle of the Books" competition idea to a local English teacher some years ago, bringing a piece of American school culture to this region.

Also at the high school level - American students appreciate their placement in Germany’s Eastern states. Last year, consulate staff visited the American participants in the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange during their stay at the language camp in Hedersleben, near Quedlinburg. They did excursions but also engaged in discussions, cultural events and sports with local youth. And for the village of Hedersleben, this meant two weeks of excitement and fun with those American students. By the way, the exchange organization (Partnership International, based in Cologne) which administers the CBYX program for grantees from the Western part of U.S. has again chosen Hedersleben for its language camp this year.

In general, each American student who participates in an exchange program - at the university or high school level - intensifies existing bilateral cooperation programs and contributes to intercultural skills among both, young Americans and Germans. In turn, for the German host institutions, the presence of American students contributes to the overall goal of becoming an internationally renowned university; summer courses and orientation weeks are being added, tandem learning initiatives are being introduced and even housing on campus becomes more international.

When I visited Quedlinburg a year ago, Mayor Brecht made clear to me the strong interest he and his fellow citizens in this city have in the Texas Tech program – indeed, he conveyed his hope that the program would grow and that the students would be ever more visible in town and involved in local events.

To the American students let me say -- I know from personal experience that your interactions with native speakers in everyday life can be nerve-wracking and present the greatest language challenges, but ultimately, getting through them will bring the greatest confidence boost. And as a diplomat, I see your experiences here contributing to transatlantic understanding and enriching the relationship between the United States and Germany.

With this background, I am delighted to be here today to congratulate the Texas Tech program and its partners in the City of Quedlinburg on the achievements thus far, and my consulate looks forward to working with you all in the future.

Thank you.