UNE > News and Events > Browse by article > Festival celebrates German culture, industry

Next Teachers should control testing, says educator March 16, 2005  

Previous Virtual fair just the job for graduates March 14, 2005 

Festival celebrates German culture, industry

March 15, 2005

Associate Professor Herman Beyersdorf, Professor Ingrid Moses, German Consul-General Dr Günter GruberA series of lectures being held today at the University of New England are the latest offerings in the week-long German Festival, launched on Sunday by German Consul-General Dr Günter Gruber.

Professor John Moses will deliver a lecture at midday on “Commonwealth Internment Policy towards persons of German Origin in Two World Wars” at UNE Lecture Theatre Arts 2.

That will be followed by a lecture to be delivered by Associate Professor Janis Wilton at 5pm on “The Germans in New England”.

Hundreds of people are expected to attend more than 60 activities celebrating the festival, from an international soccer match on Saturday (being played on the Wicklow Fields) through to a series of German films to be screened at the Belgrave cinema.

Launching the event at the New England Regional Art Museum on Sunday, Dr Gruber told how he chose Armidale because “it’s just a wonderful place, not only the city but the University.

“The more I have scratched the surface, the more I have learnt of this wonderful place and it is just mind-blowing what happens in Armidale.”

About 70 people attended Sunday’s opening, including Professor Ingrid Moses, Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Armidale Mayor Brian Chetwynd and Klaus Schuurman, Executive Director of the German Chamber of Commerce.

Covering the event for the international media were journalists from Deutsche Welle and Der Spiegel.

Dr Gruber said he had only discovered Armidale a few years ago but that he had returned many times since. The German festival was only possible, he said, because the idea had been embraced by UNE, Armidale Council and the local community.

The festival is also being supported by a number of major German corporations, making the event a celebration of German culture and showcase of German technology.

Dr Gruber said he wanted to show “what German industry can offer to solve local problems, by involving world-class companies in local business”. German companies supporting the festival included BMW, Lufthansa and Allianz insurance, he said.

Professor Moses said people would see from the festival that Germany was a very modern country, with rich traditions. She said after visiting the festival website she was surprised to see how far German culture and industry had advanced in recent years. She urged the audience to tell their friends about the festival, saying it would only be a success if it had the support of the entire community.

“It will only work if people actually turn up to the theatre, turn up to the mall, turn up to the lectures and to the demonstrations,” she said.

“We really have to show that it is worthwhile for another country to stage something like this in a small country town.”

Events planned for the festival include an international golf tournament, a German play (Woyzeck), lectures, storybook readings and business meetings, culminating in the soccer tournament to be held this Saturday (March 19), followed by beer, bratwurst and oompah music in the Armidale mall.

Media contact: Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771 or Dr Linda Hess-Liechti, School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, UNE on (02) 6773 3068. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at March 15, 2005 10:05 AM