Programs and Events

Selected Events September-December 2008

Meeting President-Elect Barack Obama in Remote Vogtland

December 17, 2008. Consul for Political and Economic Affairs Edith Backman traveled along with an Information Resource Center (IRC) staffer to Rodewisch and Wilkau-Haßlau for a whole day of "Meet US"-events. Kicking off with a general introduction to the U.S. Consulate, the sessions focused on the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs-produced Power Point "U.S. Transition - Forming the next government" but also opened to Q&A touching on a variety ... more

Chemnitz Eyes The Universe

December 15, 2008. Leipzig Consul for Public Affairs James Seward met the director and staff of the Chemnitz Industrial History Museum (CIM). The Chemnitz museum is featuring a big exhibit on the history of space exploration entitled "Space Ship CIM - Underway in the Universe". The exhibit is filled with mementos from the U.S. space program, and looks forward to plans for exploration of the Moon and Mars later in the century. more

New Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Participants Gather Near Leipzig

December 12, 2008. Consul General Katherine Brucker met with a dozen American participants in the CBYX (Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange) program in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The Americans are involved in a range of activities, from studying at local universities, to practical internships in fields as diverse as production machinery, pre-school instruction and cooking. more

U.S. Politics And Holiday Traditions Make For Good Local Mix

November 24-December 10, 2008. U.S. Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions have turned into a welcome opportunity to continue the media introduction of Leipzig Consul General Katherine Brucker. While SachsenSonntag on November 30 featured a lengthy Sunday breakfast profile of Brucker under the headline "Big politics at work at the grassroots level," Leipziger Volkszeitung on November 27 noted that the "Consul General used her cooking skills to make a case for the U.S." more

Consul General Follows Footsteps Of American Music Students In Leipzig

December 5, 2008. Consul General Katherine Brucker visited Leipzig's University of Music and Theater where she met library Director Dr. Barbara Wiermann, who gave her a tour through the library.  Its archives showcase valuable treasures of library and archival documents such as registrations and final certificates of students, including numerous Americans. more

U.S. Publications In Demand By Future Teachers 

December 3 and 8, 2008. Information Resource Center (IRC) staff engaged the current classes of Leipzig teacher trainees of English in a dialog on teaching materials for use in class. The specialized briefings focused on agency and mission products and services. The teachers identified intercultural understanding, the American way of life and the American dream as the primary issues ... more

America Celebrated In Wintery Erzgebirge

December 1, 2008. Leipzig Consul for Public Affairs James Seward made two presentations on U.S. politics and the election for high school students in the ancient mining town of Annaberg-Buchholz, in the heart of the snow-covered Ore Mountains region. more

Boost For Intercultural Dialog In Leipzig 

December 1, 2008. Internationally known American historian Natalie Zemon Davis presented her book Leo Africanus (original title: Trickster Travels, a Sixteenth-Century Muslim between Worlds) to an audience of about 70 Leipzigers. Supported by literary historian and critic Sigrid Löffler, the 80-year-old pioneer of intercultural research took her listeners on a journey into the world of African and European Renaissance, which - in its facets of intercultural exchange and dialog - proved to be amazingly close to today's readers. more

Eastern Daily Features Farewell Interview With Ambassador Timken

November 28, 2008. In an interview under the headline "The course was right" in Thüringer Allgemeine Zeitung on November 28, Ambassador William R. Timken Jr. took stock of his tenure in Germany, the Bush presidency, the recent elections and his engagement in eastern Germany. more

Native Americans Featured In Leipzig Exhibition

November 27, 2008. Leipzig Consul for Public Affairs James Seward presented the Grassi Ethnological Museum in Leipzig with a collection of 15 poster reproductions from the Edward S. Curtis' photo collection "Visions of Native Americans" -with a preview of the poster show on display. more

Strength of U.S.-German Relations Emphasized

November 26, 2008. Leipzig Consul General Katherine Brucker spoke at the Reichenbach (Saxony) public library on the election results and the transition period. The audience of some 30 adults came not only from Reichenbach but also from the surrounding area. more

Consulate Welcomes District Fulbrighters To Leipzig

November 26, 2008. Consul for Public Affairs James Seward and Consul for Political and Economic Affairs Edith Backman welcomed 12 Leipzig district-based American Fulbright Teaching Assistants at the Forum of Contemporary History Leipzig. more

Leipzig Reaches Out To Dresden Librarians

November 25, 2008. Consul for Public Affairs James Seward and Leipzig Information Resource Center (IRC) staff, accompanied by IRC coordinator Nancy Rajczak from U.S. Embassy Berlin, visited the Dresden State and University Library to meet with Director Dr. Bürger and four of his staffers responsible for press and public relations, online databases, and digital projects. more

Transition Cooperation Highlighted

November 25, 2008. Nearly 200 11th and 12th graders at the Martin-Rinkart-Gymnasium in the Leipzig suburb of Eilenburg listened to Leipzig Consul for Public Affairs James Seward discuss the recent election and the current transition. more

Consulate General Leipzig Creates New Outreach Model

November 24, 2008. Consul for Public Affairs James Seward accompanied by an Information Resource Center (IRC) staffer discussed the U.S. election system and the results of the 2008 presidential elections with a mixed group of 20 teachers and some 20 upper grade students at the Delitzsch high school. more

Meet The Author

November 20, 2008. Literary New York – an American bilingual special of das gefrorene meer, a Dresdenbased magazine on international literature and arts, which Consulate General Leipzig supported – was launched with an evening combining readings with the screening of new short art films. more

Smooth Election, Harmonious Transition

November 19, 2008. In the city of Heiligenstadt in Thuringia’s Eichsfeld region, some 50 students of the Georg-Lingemann-Gymnasium heard about and discussed the U.S. election with Leipzig’s Consul for Public Affairs James Seward. more

Taking Information To The Public

November 19, 2008. Leipzig Consulate General supported a USA Information Day at the International School in Dresden. Representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Berlin and the Consulate General in Frankfurt also took part. They answered questions from German, American and other nationals on visa, tax and social security issues. more

Presidential Transition Center Of Attention

November 18, 2008. In two separate events on November 18 at the Grenzland Eichsfeld museum on the western border of Thuringia, Leipzig Consul for Public Affairs James Seward talked with students and with the general public – altogether about 50 persons -- about the U.S. presidential campaign and the current transition process. more

Sachsen-Anhalt Teachers Learn About November 2008 Elections

November 13, 2008. Leipzig Consul for Public Affairs James Seward addressed 35 English teachers from all over the state of Saxony-Anhalt, 15 students from Magdeburg University’s American Studies Department and their Professor, Holger Kersten, as well as Georg von der Gablentz from the German-American Dialog Center on the November 2008 elections. The event was held at the Magdeburg Public Library, an America@YourLibrary partner since 2006. more

Leipzig Consul General Part Of Business Dialog

November 12, 2008. Leipzig Consul General Katherine Brucker attended her first Investors Roundtable (Investorenstammtisch) in Saxony-Anhalt, a regular gathering of local politicians and representatives from regional companies in the three German states in Leipzig’s consular district. The event in Bitterfeld – as usual organized by local Radio SAW – focused on business developments at EverQ, a major solar enterprise in Thalheim (Saxony-Anhalt) with partial U.S. ownership, and the impact of the financial crisis in the region. more

Focus On Russia, Georgia And Ukraine

November 11, 2008. Dr. Richard Weitz from Hudson Institute discussed with an interdisciplinary, knowledgeable audience of about 200 students and faculty at the Technical University Chemnitz the international implications of the 2008 elections with a special emphasis on U.S. policy towards Russia, Georgia and Ukraine. more

Consulate General Leipzig Teams Up With Chemnitz A@YL Partner To Support Teacher Workshop

November 11, 2008. Leipzig Consulate General staff contributed a presentation on Internet-based resources about the USA and discussed educational opportunities for teachers and high school students in the U.S. at a workshop for English teachers ... more

Social Worker Connects Students From Both Sides Of The Atlantic

November 10, 2008. Driven by the desire to continue the exchange of ideas and projects that was initiated during her International Visitor Program “Minority Youth Outreach & Civic Education” in September 2007, social worker Isa Isensee took the lead and convinced local school authorities to agree to a bilateral exchange of students between her home school in Leipzig, Saxony, and the American school that had hosted her. more

High School Students Wowed By Obama

November 10, 2008. Consulate General Leipzig staffers Birgit Kaemmer and Mechthild Hoelker joined Leipzig Consul General Katherine Brucker and Specialist for Political and Economic Affairs Andreas Fuerst for a big event organized by the Wolfen school club and the Heinrich-Heine-Gymnasium Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt. more

Bringing Librarians Up To Speed On U.S. Resources

November 7, 2008. Leipzig Information Resource Center (IRC) staff offered the first ever workshop for 13 information professionals at the Technical University Chemnitz, including the American Studies subject specialist. The director of the University Library Chemnitz, Angela Malz, welcomed the group. more

Teacher Workshops Under America@Your Library Umbrella

November 6, 2008. The Information Resource Center (IRC) teamed up for the second time with the Erfurt Public Library on a teacher workshop, which was also certified by the Thuringian School Authorities. In her welcome remarks, Erfurt Library Director Monika Waldheim underscored the importance of the A@YL partnership, founded in 2006. more

51 Elections-One President

November 6, 2008. About 500 students and staff of Martin Luther University (MLU) as well as interested Halle citizens discussed with Prof. William Chandler his analysis of the Presidential election 2008. Chandler, Professor of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego, discussed the decisive elements of the election campaign ... more

Overwhelming Public And Media Interest In Historic U.S. Election

November 4-5, 2008. Some 350 invited guests and numerous media representatives flocked to Leipzig Consulate General’s election party at the headquarters of ARD affiliate Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) on November 4 to follow the results, as they came in, of an historic election. The event featured a presentation for High School kids on the election and a high-level panel discussion on expectations from a new administration on both sides of the Atlantic. more

Dr. Martin Luther King’s Legacy Honored On Reformation Day In Weimar

October 31, 2008. “Ich habe einen Traum” (“I have a dream”) was the theme of the celebration and discussion honoring Doctor Martin Luther King. The event was organized by the Evangelische Akademie of Thuringia, with the support of the Consulate General Leipzig. more

Konrad Adenauer Foundation Grantees Discuss Election

October 30, 2008. Consul for Public Affairs James Seward and Leipzig University Professor Crister Garrett led a lively discussion of the U.S. presidential campaign and prospects for Germany from a new administration with 25 former and current grantees of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. more

Presidential Election Fascinates Thuringians

October 28 & 29, 2008. Consul for Public Affairs James Seward spoke on the U.S. election with an audience of about 30 at the City Library in Erfurt and 90 plus students at the Philipp-Melanchthon-Gymasium in Schmalkalden. more

Images Of The U.S. In Eastern Germany

October 28, 2008. Leipzig Consul General Katherine Brucker joined Dresden International School Director Chrissie Sorenson for a one-hour radio special on MDR 1 Radio Saxony to talk about their impressions of Saxony and German-American relations. In addition to describing what Americans think of when someone mentions "Germany," the two detailed the warm reception both enjoyed since arriving in Saxony in late summer. more

Jena Good-Bye With David Mamet

October 28, 2008. Kurt Müller, since 1992 American Literature professor at Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, and a close working contact of Consulate General Leipzig bid farewell to students, colleagues, friends and cooperation partners on October 28. After 16 years in Jena, where he helped reform American Studies at one of Germany’s oldest universities (founded in 1558), Kurt Müller delivered a lecture on David Mamet’s play Oleanna, set in context with social, political, philosophical and cultural developments in the 20th century.
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Focus On The 2008 Election In Dresden

October 27, 2008. Prof. Paul Rundquist (formerly Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress) and Prof. Jürgen Wilzewski (TU Kaiserslautern & Vice President German Association for American Studies) discussed with an interdisciplinary audience at the Technical University Dresden the international and domestic implications of the 2008 U.S. elections. more

Promoting Esta On The Airways

October 27, 2008. One million listeners of MDR 1 Radio Sachsen learned about ESTA, the electronic system for travel authorization, which will become effective on January 12. The radio special featured Berlin Consular Officer David Stewart who made a persuasive pitch for the new entry rules as making travel to the U.S. “easier, faster, more convenient and less bureaucratic.” more

Pittsburgh-Chemnitz Link

October 24, 2008. The President of the Technical University Chemnitz, Prof. Klaus-Jürgen Matthes, and Dr. Jörg Feldkamp, Director of the Industrial Museum, opened an academic symposium dealing with various aspects of industrialization, industrial culture and de-industrialization. The event compared problems and solutions of the Pittsburgh region with Saxony and other places as well as depiction in literature. more

Diverse Images Of America On Display In Halle/Saale

October 24, 2008. Theme of the Werkleitz Biennale media arts festival this year was “Amerika”, featuring European and American films from early silents to modern features, contemporary art and workshops examining the image and perception of America for Germans. more

Cultural Diversity In The Arts Celebrated In Leipzig

October 23, 2008. Leipzig’s Grassi Ethnographical Museum marked the publication of a catalog of the museum’s collection of Tibetan and classical Chinese Art. The extensive collection was assembled in the late 19th Century by Hermann Freiherr Speck von Sternburg, one of Germany’s most prominent diplomats of the epoch, Ambassador to the United States and friend of Theodore Roosevelt. more

U.S. Election Still Top Draw In Leipzig Consular District

October 13, 2008. Local interest in the U.S. election remains high, but the focus of attention is shifting away from the process and towards what the new administration might have in store for Germany. This tendency was particularly notable at an event with the International Friends of Dresden, a panel discussion entitled "The US Presidential Election -- What Does It Mean for Germany." more

Consul For Public Affairs Honors WWII U.S. Flight Crew In Eisenberg

October 13, 2008. Consul for Public Affairs James Seward laid a wreath at a memorial near the Thuringian city of Eisenberg, to honor a member of a B-17 Flying Fortress crew, who was killed with 7 of his fellow crew members when the aircraft went down in February, 1945. The visit took place at the request of the last surviving relative of Staff Sgt. Raymond Reiss. more

German Youth Station Hot On Information About Elections

New Leipzig Consul General Visits Leipzig A@YL Partner

October 1, 2008. Leipzig Consul General Katherine Brucker visited the Leipzig Public Library to meet Dr. Arne Ackermann, Library Director and Heike Scholl, Public Relations staffer. Consul General Brucker discussed program opportunities in the context of 20th anniversary of German reunification in 2009. She donated a set of Lincoln books to the library and agreed on a “Meet US” program with reference to Lincoln’s 200th birthday/President’s Day in February 2009. more

Connecting With The Media

September 25, 2008. Leipzig Consulate staffer Rita Wallace conducted the 5th full-day workshop for trainees from Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), the ARD affiliate and public broadcaster for Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The group of ten aspiring radio and TV journalists, who were internally selected by MDR from more than 500 applicants, learned about the Consulate’s mission, activities, services, and products. more

Targeting English Teachers And Students

September 23, October 1, and October 8, 2008. Consulate General Leipzig hosted a total of 130 teachers of English and 210 high school students from all over Saxony and Thuringia at in-service training seminars in Bad Berka (Sept. 23), Löbau (October 1) and Chemnitz (October 8). US-speaker Prof. Paul Rundquist introduced teachers and students to the full spectrum of election-related issues by explaining not only the election system and primaries, but also foreign and security policy implications and the election as part of the U.S. democratic process. more

U.S. Presidential Election Featured at an “America@Your Library” Partner in Görlitz

September 23, 2008. Consul for Public Affairs James W. Seward traveled to the eastern border of Saxony to address 15 students of the Görlitz ESO language school at the Europe-library, one of Consulate’s A@YL partners. Seward explained the Consulate’s work and programs, talked about his diplomatic career and the presidential election campaign 2008. more

“Das Rätsel Amerika” in Leipzig and Görlitz

September 22 and 23, 2008. Author Werner Peters’ read from his insightful analysis of what “makes America tic” at the “Bibliotheca Albertina” University Library in Leipzig and the City Library in Görlitz. The readings were followed by lively discussions, in Leipzig with Consul General Katherine Brucker taking part, and in Görlitz with Consul for Public Affairs James W. Seward. more

Middle America Meets Middle Germany

September 16, 2008. 15 students and their teachers from the Paul-Gerhardt-Gymnasium in Gräfenhainichen, Saxony-Anhalt, gave a presentation to their parents and Consul for Public Affairs Jim Seward about their recent 17 day trip to Springfield, Ohio, the first phase of a school partnership exchange sponsored by the sister city program with Springfield, Ohio. more

American Heartland Takes Root In Dresden’s Art Scene

September 12, 2008. Leipzig Consul for Public Affairs James Seward cemented the Consulates’ ties with Dresden’s avantgarde artistic community at a welcoming reception for American artist Melissa Vogley-Woods at the Raskolnikow Art Gallery. Vogley-Woods has begun a three-month residency at the Gallery, under the auspices of the Dresden/Columbus, Ohio sister-cities program, with the support of the Columbus Greater Arts Council and the Ministry of Science and Culture of the State of Saxony. more

“Born of Fire - Pittsburgh and Saxony in Works of Art” in Chemnitz

September 5, 2008. The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in cooperation with the Industrial Museum of  Saxony, Chemnitz, celebrated the opening of a joint exhibition of paintings by German and American artists who chronicled in painting and photography the age of industry in Pittsburg and in Chemnitz.  The two cities’ iron and steel production, foundries, mills and manufacturing plants played a key role in the industrial history of Germany and America. more