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German Festival planned for Armidale

October 08, 2004

German Unity Day.jpgThe German Consul General, Dr Guenther Gruber, visiting the University of New England for a celebration of the Day of German Unity, announced plans for an annual German Festival in Armidale beginning next year.
Dr Gruber said the festival, planned at this stage for March, would incorporate a range of events in education and the arts. (The production of a German play in English translation is already being discussed.) It could also extend to sport and other areas of activity, he said.
About 60 people with German connections gathered in Booloominbah at UNE this
Wednesday for the celebration. The Day of German Unity has been celebrated
in Germany each year since the formal re-unification of the country on
October 3, 1990.

Dr Gruber’s visit to Armidale and UNE this week was the second since his arrival in Australia three months ago. His first visit, in August, was for the launch of the international film festival that formed part of UNE’s Golden Jubilee celebrations. “We at the Consulate in Sydney take Armidale very seriously,” he said. He added that, as a small university city, Armidale was an ideal location for a festival such as the one he had in mind. He said people both at the University and in Armidale itself had been supportive of the idea.
Dr Gruber said the German Festival would involve local school students studying German, and might also include a soccer tournament in honour of Germany’s hosting of the World Cup in 2006. In drawing the attention of Sydney-based German business interests to Armidale, the festival could also result in business growth for Armidale, he said.
Associate Professor Herman Beyersdorf, Head of UNE’s School of Languages,
Cultures and Linguistics and an Armidale Dumaresq Councillor, described the
idea of a German Festival in Armidale as “a great thing for the University
of New England and the whole New England region”. “Fostering direct cultural
ties with Germany will be very beneficial for high-school and university
students of German language and culture,” he said. “It is also important for
people now living in this region to be able to celebrate their German
heritage.”
Dr Kerry Dunne, Convenor of German at UNE, said Germans had lived in the New
England region, particularly around Inverell, Tenterfield and Armidale,
since the mid-nineteenth century. In more recent years, numbers of German
academics and professionals had been attracted to the region to work at UNE,
in the medical professions, and in business. “German was a foundation
subject at UNE from the beginning of the University in 1938,” Dr Dunne said.
“UNE was the first Australian university to offer German in the external
mode, and now has students throughout the world. Many graduates of German
went on to successful careers in a number of fields, including careers in
German-speaking countries, as well as teaching and academic careers.”
Media contact: Associate Professor Herman Beyersdorf, School of Languages,
Cultures and Linguistics, UNE (02) 6773 3042 or Jim Scanlan, Public
Relations, UNE (02) 6773 3049.
A photograph showing (from left) Dr Guenther Gruber, his wife Mrs Christiane
Gruber and Associate Professor Herman Beyersdorf is at:
http://smithserver.une.edu.au/photography/media/unity.jpg

Posted by Lydia Roberts at October 8, 2004 05:06 PM