Wolfgang SchmidtDear Members and Friends of Houston Leipzig,

my term as your president has come to an end. We’ve had an exciting year with many highlights.

First I would like to thank you for your trust in electing me your president in 2014, and I want to thank each and every one of you for your support.

The year started relatively quiet. We had planned meetings for most of the year, as well as a trip to Leipzig in October to attend the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the peaceful revolution. Then Leipzig’s Mayor Burkhard Jung called in February and suggested that the 2014 U.S. concert tour of the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, should begin in Houston.

That call changed a lot in the focus of our activities. The historic significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the interest of the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and the German Consulate General, enabled us to organize a panel discussion on the evening before the concert that featured contemporary eyewitnesses from 1989 and experts on these events.

The concert was a resounding success. It would not have been possible without the outstanding support of Mayor Annise Parker and her staff, German Consul General Ricarda Redeker and her staff, Houston Symphony CEO Mark Hanson and his staff, and the cooperation from President George H. W. Bush and Secretary of State James A. Baker III as Honorary Chairs of the concert, and last, but definitely not least, all of you who contributed your efforts, time, and money.

For those of who wish to revisit these events, please see the relevant links in the following post Revisiting the Celebrations in Houston of the 25th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

Another major event of the 25th anniversary celebrations was the trip of about 30 Houstonians to Leipzig to participate in the festivities in Leipzig and other Leipzig highlights. Our sister organization in Leipzig did a fabulous job in putting a great program together.

In Houston we also had a number of interesting programs, and teamed up twice with the German Consulate General to present great events to our membership. A student exchange between Houston’s John H. Reagan High School and Leipzig’s Kepler Gymnasium has begun; ten students from Leipzig already visited Houston in October, and had a great time. We hope that this will be a permanent exchange.

In closing, a big thank you again for all your support, all the best for my successor Lindsey Kroll, and I hope for a bright future of our organization.

For you and yours, I wish you a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2015,
Wolfgang Schmidt
2014 President

P.S. There will be a member meeting on January 22, 2015, at 6:30 p.m.  Details will follow tomorrow.

wolfgang.schmidt@imecpvf.com
281-630-0714

 

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