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The Long (established) Christmas Dinner

Forget Thornton Wilder rather concentrate on FMG's tradition. This year we exceptionally had snow on the first of December such that three persons booked couldn't make it to the Greiffenegg-Schlössle. Those present were spoiled as usual and particularly keen to taste the roasted goose since this year we had been deprived of turkey, the Thanksgiving Dinner organized by the Carl-Schurz-Haus not taking place.

When approaching the Schlossberg you pass Oberlinden. Note the linden tree decorated with Herrenhuth Stars.
In the back you sense the steeple of Freiburg's Münster Church

Taking the aperitif at the beautifully decorated Greiffenegg-Schlössle: Mrs. Herr, Professor Peter Günter,
our Renommier-Student Mat Frey and FRG's honorary member Charlotte Weber

President Toni Schlegel delivering his witty speech

The other side of the table. Didn't they get the joke?

Same procedure as last year: Mrs. Biehre presents the object of desire. If you want to compare click here. And don't forget the rest:

Terrine of Guinea Fowl with Mâche, Blackend Nuts and Figs

   Essence of Beetroot with Ravioli from Cèpe

 Crisp Roasted Goose with Appled Red Cabbage, Potato Dumplings and Sweet Chestnut

   Mousse of Raspberry with Meringue and Pear Sorbet

The auther of all those unique photos Professor Jim Steakley, student Janelle Peifer and Toni Schlegel. Thank you Jim!

Wine Tasting at the Winery Sonnenbrunnen in Opfingen

with the students of the Academic Year in Freiburg 2010/2011

The wine tasting took place on the 9th of November Germany's destiny date: The shooting of Robert Blum in Vienna in 1849, the proclamation of the first German Republic in Berlin in 1918, the aborted Hitler putsch in Munich in 1923, the Reichspogrom-night all over Nazi-Germany in 1938, the opening of the Berlin wall in 1989.

Don't go back in history, Dad! Let the young people rather enjoy the wines of Baden. As in previous years vinter Jörg Scheel had invited the FMG and the students of the AYF to taste his grands crus.

Wine tasting is not to be confused with drinking. Note for instance the small glasses. Around the table eight
student girls from left to right: Taylor Cronbaugh, Emily Grambsch, Alex Lubbers, Alison Carriere, Steffi Klawiter,
Hanna Toellner, Shelbi Goldman, Ashley Martin. But where are the boys?

Like Jack Horner sitting in a corner: Mat Frey, Wes Francis and Vedran Vasic in front of still empty glasses

You have to earn your wine in listening to the explanations of Jörg Scheel about eco-wines whilst Jim Steakley has no problem watching over his students. In front from left to right: Professor Jim Steakley, Mat Frey, Vedran Vasic, and vinter Jörg Scheel.

In serious talks? From left to right: Ashley Martin, FMG's Vice President Frauke Feix, Dirk von Schneidemesser and FMG member Dr. Mercedes Beneto

Photos courtesy Mat Frey© and Jim Steakley©

Bundeshauptstadt im Klimaschutz

Yesterday 25 October Freiburg was elected Federal Capital of Climatic Protection (Note once the German text in the title is shorter than the English one). On the photo taken in Berlin you may distinguish Freiburg's Lord Mayor Dr. Dieter Salomon behind the certificate panel in black and Mayor Gerda Schuchlik holding up a yellow place name sign made on this occasion. Will this replace the present one: Universitätsstadt Freiburg? The runners up, the cities of Frankfurt and Heidelberg proudly brand their diploma, whilst long time champion Münster this time failed to gain a medal.

Sailing away?

Yesterday the Badische Zeitung in their series: Tell me ... (Sagen Sie mal ...) published an interview with Friederike Schulte, the new Director of Freiburg's Carl-Schurz-Haus. Young and dynamic Friederike is full of energy, idealism and new ideas for making the German-American relationship shine. Sailing the Carl-Schurz-Haus close to the wind it was not surprising that during the interview she expressed her wish to sail from Bremerhaven to New York once in her life.

My first reaction was that of admiration, my second that of Angst. Didn't thousands of Germans, Poles, Czechs, Hungarians etc. embark at Bremerhaven for the New World, the promised land, in the 19th and 20th century and never came back? Although with her statement that at the age of nine her greatest success was the perfect backward roll and now being Director of the CSH we have all hope to keep her here for a while.

Death Penalty in Madison?

 When I came home from a one week trip to Dresden, Wrosław (Breslau) and Cracow (Krakau) I was shocked reading the following letter to the editor in Freiburg’s Badische Zeitung from 12 October:

A lady questions Freiburg’s partnership with Madison as long as death sentences are enforced there. The second half of her statement I cannot translate because what I read is incomprehensible German. 

I knew that she had written nonsense (avoiding a stronger word in this context). Soon Mike confirmed: The death penalty in Wisconsin was already abolished in 1853 whilst we in Germany did this only a century later in 1949 with the coming into force of our Grundgesetz (basic law or constitution if you like). I have sent a counterstatement regarding the content in the above letter to our local newspaper. I shall keep you informed about their reaction.

Puritanisches Erbe und politische Religion

FMG member Professor Peter Günther impressed a large audience with his talk about the Dream of America when he traced the puritan heritage developing into a political religion.

The pilgrims arriving on the American continent took along the way puritan Britains (Thy mercy on they people Lord!) regarded themselves as the newly chosen people.  The settlers put their belief to work as St. John de Crevecoeur has described in 1782: Americans are the western pilgrims who are carrying along with them the great mass of arts, sciences, vigour, and industry which began long in the East; they will finish the great circle.

Columbia hovering westwards

Later in 1845 when in old Europe people were subjects of autocratic rulers John O'Sullivan went a step further claiming that Providence had provided the land to free men: And that claim is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us. Not considering the rights of those who lived in these territories. O'Sullivan continues: Who will set limits to our onward march? Our country destined: the great nation of futurity. We must onward to the fulfilment of our mission: to establish on earth the salvation of man!

In the second half of the 19th century Herman Melville carries this sens of mission even further: And we Americans are the peculiar, chosen people - the Israel of our time; we bear the ark of liberties of the world and continues Long enough have we doubted whether, indeed, the political Messiah had come. But he has come in us.  In this spirit the Book of Mormon reveiled in 1827 on American territory falls into place where - following two earlier aborted attempts - Christ eventually exults in God's own country.

Walt Whitman saw in the colonization of the American continent Columbus's mission accomplished at last:

     Tying the Eastern to the Western sea,
     The road between Europe and Asia.
     (Ah Genoese thy dream! thy dream!
     Centuries after thou art laid in thy grave,
     The shore thou foundest verifies thy dream.)

The discussion that followed Peter's fascinating presentation was long and lively. Some of my rather personal afterthoughts are found in my blog.

The

Freiburg Schülerjazzorchester

conducted by Herbert Schiffels, active member of the FMG, will perform for the benefit of the Haiti earth quake victims

Banks in the States and Germany following the financial crisis

Following an historic review of the still looming financial crisis Toni Schlegel told the audience that solid reforms of the international finance and banking system are still missing. The harping on manager bonuses is intended to calm the man in the street but doesn't cure the fundamental problems. Instead, due to the continuing crisis the big banks make again record gains in managing the bonds governments issue to finance their debts. In the States small banks still suffer and go bankrupt whilst in Germany saving banks make good profit due to the fact that clients transfer their money from the big banks to smaller local depositories. There is a risk that the big players having seen that governments are willing to invest enormous sums to avoid their bankruptcy will continue to take great financial risks in order to maximize their profit.

Mike von Schneidemesser, guest of honor

Yesterday night (February 9^th) Toni Schlegel invited Mike von Schneidemesser presently in Freiburg to dine at the Greiffeneggschlössle. Some of his friends joined in the party. Mike was honored for his efforts he had made in September 2009 in Madison making our stay so memorable and for his care he ardently devotes to the partnership between Madison and Freiburg. The quality of the photos is that you may expect from an iPhone without a flash. 

The table is all set waiting for Mike. He was flanked by two distinguished ladies.

The 48ers - Fugitives of the Baden Revolution in the US

The first Stammtisch in 2010 dealt with the 48ers i.e. those persons who in the years 1848/49 stood up in many European countries for democratic changes in government.  Following the mostly bloody supression of these revolts many revolutionaries flew to the States. Being part of the general insurrection the period in Baden was the longest in Germany. It started already in September 1847 in Offenburg and ended with the fall of the last stronghold Rastatt on Juli 1849. Carl Schurz known to all of you was the last officer who escaped from Fort Ratstatt actually through the sewer system. However in the old times a fugitive called Franz Sigel was even more popular in the States than Schurz. During the Civil War Franz rallied the German offspring singing I'm going to fight mit Sigel  behind Lincoln.

Popular Sigel at the Riverside Park in New York

A MS Powerpoint slide show as pdf-files on the Web will present to you - understanding some German or just looking at the pictures - the fugitives from Baden who became part of the American heritage. .

A national holiday without schwarz-rot-gold

FMG's traditional hiking tour on 3 October with Walter Kolb and the students from Madison took us from the former abbey St. Peter in a round trip to the Lindenberg chapel and restaurant. It was a gorgeous Golden Oktober day with mild temperatures blue and clear skys that gave us breathtaking views from above into neighboring valleys of the Black Forest. In addition we had good company and conversations.

View on St. Peters's Abbey. Note: a couple of houses carry solar panels

Some of the participants in high spirits on their way to the Hochgericht
(the former place of court and gallows high up on the hill)

There were only two downers: Only one student showed up for the hike. The others apparently had taken the train to Munich and the final weekend of the original Oktoberfest. No need to travel far: also we had beer and even alcohol-free fitting people below 21 and above 75.

Although it was our National Holiday commemorating 20 years of German re-unification I only saw yellow-white catholic banners at the Lindenberg chapel but none of our schwarz-rot-gold. Nowhere except at the very end of our excursion hidden by some trees a national flag was barely visible. Here is a poor ersatz:

Three months ago during the Soccer World Championship held in South Africa our national colors not only hung from roofs and balconies but also cars were decorated sometimes with several German flags. Let's us look forward to 2012 when the European Soccer Championchip will take place and the real bunting will reappear.

Changing of the Guard

not in front of Buckingham Palace in London but at the Carl-Schurz-Haus in Freiburg. After only two years of excellent service as Director Dr. Christine Gerhardt was offered a professorship at the University of Bamberg. So yesterday we sat through one hour of laudatio for the leaving and of welcome speeches for the arriving Director Friederike Schulte. Friederike, starting as Director of the CSH already on October 1st, originates from Wolfenbüttel. She gained experience for her job as assistant director of the American Center in Stuttgart.  

We listened to the Chairman of CSH’s Board, Freiburg’s Mayor for Cultural Affairs, the representative of the Ministry of Education and Culture from Stuttgart, the Consul General from Frankfurt, the Head of the CSH’s Educational Program and last not least to the leaving and coming Director. The official ceremony was followed by animated discussions over a buffet with food and drinks.  

We from the Freiburg-Madison Gesellschaft are looking forward to a continued fruitful collaboration with the Carl-Schurz-Haus.

Friends on the other side of the border

Not only Madison and Freiburg cultivate their sistership, many communities around our city do the same. Most of these partnerships are with French villages but there is a particular one between Jasper in Indiana and the vintner village of Pfaffenweiler that deserves some attention.

  Three Viertele wine from Pfaffenweiler and the emblem of Jasper, located according to the well known jazz classic Way down in Indiana

In the middle of the 19th century more than 200 persons abandoned Pfaffenweiler some for political reasons - following the bloody repression of the German revolution in 1848/49 - but the bulk of the mostly younger people left out of sheer misery. No work, nothing to eat, no future. The authorities even paid them the fare for crossing into the promised land. It happened that an important fraction of the Pfaffenweilers stayed together and settled in Indiana.

The story had all been forgotten until 1983 when historian Sabine Jordan studied the immigration of Badeners into the US. One year later some sceptical Pfaffenweilers flew into the States but became exalted when in Jasper the Eckerles met the Eckerles, the Gutgsells discovered the Gutgsells and the Scherles smattered with the Scherles. Since 1985 the Deutscher Verein in Jasper (15000 inhabitants) has intensified the contacts. Now, only 25 years later the small community of Pfaffenweiler (2350) will create a Partnerschaftskomitee and the infrastructure for hosting young Americans for longer periods.

(Source Badische Zeitung 24 September 2010)

Reception for the Students of the Academic Year in Freiburg 2010/2011

at the Greiffenegg-Schlössle on 15 September

 American Friends

  On 30 June 2010 I read in the Badische Zeitung's daily column: 50 Years Ago the headline American Friends. In 1960 the then US-Ambassador Walter Cecil Rowling in Bonn visited Freiburg to give a speech at the university about American-German relations. At the following reception at the Rathaus Freiburg’s Lord Mayor Josef Brandel praised the US for having supported the people of Freiburg during the difficult years following the war. He continued jokingly: But what would America be without Freiburg?  

What he meant was Martin Waldseemüller's map from 1507 of the then known world that showed the name Amerika for the first time. Martin a scholar from Freiburg had named the territories in the West somewhat wrongly after Amerigo Vespucci a discoverer from Florence. Dowling's reaction: I didn't know that the Freiburg-American relations were as old as that.  

Picture from Wikipedia

PS:  In 1901 the only known original of the map was discovered in the  library of Prince Johannes zu Waldburg-Wolfegg in Wolfegg Castle* in Württemberg. It remained there until 2001 when the heir of Waldburg-Wolfegg-Waldsee family needed money and sold the map to the United States Library of Congress for ten million dollars. Our chancellor Angela Merkel symbolically turned over the Waldseemüller map on April 30, 2007, within the context of a formal ceremony at the Library of Congress, in Washington, DC. In her remarks, the chancellor stressed that the U.S. contributions to the development of Germany in the postwar period tipped the scales in the decision to turn over the Waldseemüller map to the Library of Congress as a sign of transatlantic affinity and as an indication of the numerous German roots to the United States.

*I visted the place recently

A Streetcar Named Städtepartnerschaften

As an upbeat to the 5th Market Place of Freiburg's Partner Cities Bürgermeister Otto Neideck christened a tramway of Freiburg's transport sytem illustrating the city's various partnerships. It will run the town reminding the Freiburgers of our many sister cities. The photo above shows the graphical presentation of Madison.

In the case of Besançon's presentation all French clichés are served: Baguette, croissant, red wine, beret Basque and TGV. In the background the Bürgermeister is still talking whilst the driver being anxious to put the tram into service.

 Under the watchful eyes of Mr. President and Mayor Dave and his wife Dianne the Master ( How does one call a female master?) of Freiburg-Madison's booth, Sigi, proudly presents her team. From left to right: Diane, student from Michgan State University, George and Sigi (FMG) and Hether, University of Iowa. The students who spend an Academic Year in Freiburg (AYF) traditionally help during the annual Market Place of Freiburg's Partner Cities.

Tea Party Patriots on the March

In a political environment where many things went out of control – the wars that America fights, the derailing of the international  financial system, the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico – a government has to adjust to face old and new challenges. But how much government?

Enter the Tea Party Patriots who fight the Obama administration on all fronts. Prof. Kathleen Canning informed an amazed audience about the right wing movement in the States questioning whether the President is an American (Barack, the Magic Negro), moving the public health insurance close to the Nazi euthanasia program and calling adversaries socialists or even threatening them with physical attacks. Whilst Kathleen was somewhat afraid about this political polarization in the US we Europeans still consider the States as bulwark of democracy.

The discussion that followed was one of the most lively ones we ever had at our Stammtisch. For some of my personal thoughts you may like to visit my Blog.

The FMG honors two outstanding members

The FMG General Annual Assembly on 12 January 2010 declared Mrs. Charlotte Weber and Mr. Walter Kolb honorary members. Following the creation of the partnership between the cities of Madison and Freiburg in 1988 the FMG was founded as the supporting Organization one year later. Walter Kolb became its first president. At that time the FMG was lucky to have won a US expert as Walter had spent a longer period in the States as early as 1952 in the framework of the YMCA. Today he is still active and organizes the popular hiking tours for the American students of the Academic Year in Freiburg. Mrs. Charlotte Weber has many relatives living in the States. As a founding member of the FMG she has during all these years rarely missed an event. With her never ending enthusiasm for the German-American friendship she significantly contributed to the success of the FMG.

The photo shows from left to right: President Toni Schlegel, our honorary members Charlotte Weber and Walter Kolb with their documents and Frauke Feix as vice-president of the FMG

FMG's Traditional Christmas Dinner

On the 2nd of December 2009 the FMG had its traditional Christmas Dinner at the Greiffeneggschlössle. See what you have missed:

The bird served by Greiffenegg's manager Edeltraut Biehre had changed from a turkey to a goose, the traditional German feast for Christmas before we discovered that a turkey has more meat and less fat (Photo courtesy ©TS). The following menu was served with the bird:

We enjoyed the excellent serve and the good talks throughout the evening.

Thanksgiving in Freiburg

As usual the Carl-Schurz-Haus took in charge the arrangement of the annual Thanksgiving Dinner in Freiburg at the

Two days before the official date already at the 24th of November, we had the following excellent dinner:

I hope we Europeans got it right that the menu may compare favorably with what you are going to eat today.

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody!

Mind you eating is not over yet as we are looking forward to the MFG's official Christmas Dinner (see above) next week.

Food Court in Madison?

Today October 23 we read in our local Newspaper about a Food Court to be built in Madison. According to the Badische Zeitung Mayor Dave got the idea last year when visiting Freiburg and in particular the Markthalle. This roof covered food market was built into the premises of the former print shop for the deceased Freiburger Zeitung. The market houses eateries with local and exotic food e.g. from North Africa and India as well as a bar with French champagne or domestic sparkling and local non sparkling wine. The place is extremely popular among Freiburgers. Ted Petith Madison's coordinator for renewable energies who is presently in Freiburg also announced the creation of a solar info center in Madison. Time has come in particular with the Obama administration supporting efforts in making renewable energy available.

                                            Right: Happy? Halloween in Freiburg's Food Court

Below are some photos of Freiburg's Food Court:

Marcel from France (left) is preparing his Champagne Express (right) whilst an early thirsty male customer is already  attracted. The ladies in the back rather opt for Japanese noodles and sushi.

Visit to Madison

A group of eleven members of the Freiburg-Madison Gesellschaft Freiburg spent ten days in the US. We flew from Frankfort to Chicago on 6 September 2009 and stayed three days in the Windy City.

From 9 through 12 September the group was generously received in Freiburg's sister city Madison. We the participants would like to thank all those members of the Sister City Committee and beyond who made our stay such a memorable experience.

On our way back to Old Europe we stopped in Washington. Also here our friends from Madison had cared for us arranging a guided tour of the Capitol Building. Some of us even listened to a Senate Session.  We were back in Frankfort in the morning of 16 September. The flight and landing was like the whole trip smooth without any hick-up.

Look up the picture gallery about our experience.

Fourth of July Party!

The Carl-Schurz-Haus set the pace followed by Freiburg's Madison Gesellschaft: We came together and fired up the grill and celebrated Independence Day with a rockin’ 4th of July party and live music. Highlight of the evening was a jam Session  with the living legend Perry Robinson, „the most gifted clarinetist  in  Modern Jazz" (New York Times) and musicians of the FunkReich band: Frederic Heisler, drums and Emanuel Teschke, bass.

The weather was not too hot (80 F) and although the days before gusty thunderstorms had spoiled many a party in Freiburg with several inches of rain including hail this afternoon and evening were spared.

The attendance at the Ganter Hausbiergarten was high thus people had to queue up (sorry stand in line) for German beer and partly American food. The flag on the right intrigued many as in this new graphical presentation the counting of stars becomes difficult in particular after a couple of  beers.

And we had the visit of Carla and Dick from Madison honoring with their presence our  Independence Day party in Freiburg. Thank you for coming and giving a genuine American touch to the festivity.

4th Market Place of Freiburg's Partner Cities

Those of you who attended last year's 3rd Market Place of Freiburg's Partner Cities are possibly aware that this event takes place at the Rathausplatz every year.

In 2008 the City of Madison had been guest of honor due to the 20th anniversary of our partnership. This year three cities shared a round date to celebrate. Here, flanked by the European and German flag you can admire the colors of France, the United Kingdom and the Ukraine hanging from the balcony of the Rathaus. They stand for Besançon (50th anniversary of partnership with Freiburg), Guildford (30 years) and Lviv (Lemberg, 20 years).

The tent with the booths of all the participating partner cities was well visited but in our case the stand was even better attended as the following photo shows. During three days Sigi and Mike did a ten hour job and never forgot the human touch (here engumschlungen or rather don't tell Mike's wife). Thank you so much both for promoting German-American friendship and presenting beautiful Madison to all those visitors!

The featured ice cream with cranberry sauce was well accepted and the message of the healthy effects of these fruits if not already known was spread around. I wouldn't be surprised if there will not be a noticeable boost in US-export of those berries.

The winter weather in Madison isn't better than in Chicago

On April 3rd Barack Obama was in Strasbourg at the G-20 meeting. In a big sports arena that was filled to the last seat he took the opportunity to talk to students from both sides of the Rhine river followed by a question and answer  session. Toni in a delegation from Freiburg's Carl-Schurz-Haus mingled with the young and the President of the United States shook hands with the President of the Freiburg-Madison Gesellschaft. After that Toni small talked with Michelle who confirmed that the winter weather in Madison isn't better that in her home town Chicago. A burning question remains: did Toni wash his right hand since then or does he prefer to keep the historic hand shake.

Obama's 100 Days: An Appreciation

Our April Stammtisch had very few attendants. We were asking ourselves questions: Yes, it was the 1st of April, so had we been fooled? Obama had not had his full 100 days, maybe people were vexed by our boldness. And he was in London, but that could not be the reason for the empty Stammtisch. Toni's idea was that the soccer match between Wales and Germany the very evening kept people glued in front of their television. We shall possibly never find out why we had so few...

The Madison University Choir in Freiburg

On Monday 16 March we read in the Badische Zeitung that the Madison University Choir was in Freiburg on the invitation of Freiburg's Bach Chor. Until 17 March they will perform a capella in various places. We would much have liked to meet these charming people.

Fabian Schwär back in Freiburg

At the March Stammtisch Sebastian Schwär reported about his stay in Madison's City Clerk's Office. He assembled  a Powerpoint presentation about renewable energies and got an excellent appreciation. Mayor Dave wrote: We applaud what Germany is doing, and hope to replicate some of your successes her in Madison.

The Economic Crisis in the US and Germany

At the March Stammtisch Toni Schlegel and Wolfgang Meier-Rudolf tried very hard to explain to a full house of lay-women and -men the origin of the financial crisis and its follow-up the economic decline. Time was too short to go into every nitty-gritty detail of the current economic situation although the excellent presentation and moderate discussion  went on for more than two hours.

At the end two burning questions remained: How come that - whilst the printing of green-backs in the State is at its maximum - the dollar is going so strong in comparison to the Euro and will - with the American citizens rather paying back their debts than consuming - the US again become the stimulus for a new economic growth.

Bill meets Dieter

Former US President Bill Clinton and Freiburg’s Lord Mayor Dr. Dieter Salomon shook hands at the yearly meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) held in Austin, Texas with 1300 students from the US and other countries attending.

Salomon had been invited as the only Mayor of a Green City to take part in panel discussion about “CO₂ neutral” cities. Both gentlemen agreed that in an economic crises economy and ecology are not mutually exclusive but are both essential.

Salomon had nearly missed the meeting when he was stranded at John Dulles Airport on the night of Friday 13th !! due to a technical problem with his connecting flight. The company offered him a seat to Austin on a plane on Saturday evening. In a joint American-German effort he could finally be booked on a Saturday morning flight just in time not to miss the historic handshake.

Green City but not Green Capital

While the Oscars were celebrated in Los Angeles another sort of prize was distributed in Europe's capital: Brussels. The Green Capital Award for 2010 went to Stockholm, Sweden whereas Hamburg, Germany was attributed the prize for 2011. Freiburg as the smallest city of the contenders did not make it but was nevertheless among the last eight candidates for the prize. The European Community thus acknowledged Freiburg’s role as a Green City.

Epilogue: In a ceremony in Brussels the prize for Hamburg was handed over to the city's Senator for Environment Anja Hajduk. On the photo she proudly presents the flowery Cup to the cameras in front of a flag of the former GDR (East Germany) ! ? showing the hammer and the pair of compasses.

English at an Early Age

The American Center in Freiburg, the Carl-Schurz-Haus is a well accepted cultural institution. Last fall its long time Director Professor Eva Manske retired and was succeeded by Dr. Christine Gebhardt a well known specialist for American Culture and History at the University of Dortmund.

At our February’s Stammtisch Gerhardt’s closest collaborator Uta Schröder presented the history of Freiburg’s Carl-Schurz-Haus and its cultural and educational program. She emphasized the English language program for pre-school children and kids during their first grades. In Freiburg’s environment that is particularly focused on French due to the nearness of France parents have discovered the opportunity the Carl-Schurz-Haus offers for initiating their children in English. The success of the program is particularly due to the employment of native speakers with experience in children's education.