Selected Events 2006

U. S. Consul General Mark Scheland (Left) and Consul General Tomas Podivinsky, Czech Republic

June 12, 2006
On June 12, about 380 guests gathered at the headquarters of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) in Leipzig to cheer on the U.S. and Czech national teams in their World Cup match, displayed on a giant screen. U.S. Consul General Mark Scheland had approached his Czech counterpart in Dresden and regional broadcaster MDR about co-hosting this event with guests drawn primarily from the U.S. and Czech communities in the three-state region as well as German friends from the media, business, government, and other fields. Folk musicians from the Czech Republic, students from a bilingual Czech-German high school in Pirna, and Leipzig-area kids who had represented the two countries in a recent "Mini World Cup of the Schools" all contributed to the entertainment, which included line dancing in the style of the American West.
Considering the variety of public viewing areas for World Cup broadcasts all over Leipzig, the turn-out for this gathering was an exceptional expression of friendship between Germans, Americans and Czechs. The U.S. and Czech Consulates were pleased to be able in this manner to thank so many German friends for the constructive working relationships we enjoy.