Chronology
Stations in the Magdeburg-Nashville Sister Cities Relationship.
1998 - 2001
Since May 1998
Relations with Nashville
A visit by a delegation from Nashville to Magdeburg and a return visit by, among others, former mayor Willi Polte to Nashville were the first official contacts.
2001
June 2001
The German-American Dialog Center established its city partnership working staff headed by Georg von der Gablentz, German-American Dialog Center spokesman.
September 5, 2001
The working staff proposes to the chair of the German-American Dialog Center to continue promoting efforts for a partnership with Nashville.
The process of city partnership centers on building up contacts with and connections to the city of Nashville and linking and extending contacts in all areas of society. Central to these efforts is increasingly building up contacts with and connections to the city of Nashville and networking or expanding contacts in all areas of society.
November 8, 2001
The proposal A0231/01 from the Bündnis '90 / Die Grünen - Future! party in the to enter into a city partnership with Nashville is passed on by the city council to the municipal and legal committee, the culture committee and the business committee.
The Magdeburg office of public relations presents the position on the planned city partnership with Nashville, which is then dealt with in the committee sessions.
2002
April 11, 2002
The Magdeburg city council resolves to authorize Lord Mayor Dr. Trümper to initiate further negotiations with the city of Nashville with the objective of establishing a city partnership.
1. The Lord Mayor is authorized to take up further negotiations with the American city of Nashville (Tennessee) with the objective of establishing a city partnership.
2. The German-American Dialog Center, of which the city of Magdeburg is a member, is requested to be actively involved in the process of further building up and maintaining contacts until the establishment of the city partnership.
3. The city council is to be regularly informed about the state of negotiations and results.
May 28-31, 2002
A delegation from Sister Cities of Nashville visits Magdeburg.
At the invitation of the German-American Dialog Center, a delegation from Sister Cities of Nashville visits Magdeburg from May 28-31 on the occasion of the business conference taking place on May 30. Douglas Berry (president of Sister Cities Nashville), Bob Bogen (Nashville metropolitan councilor), Betty Brodie, Janet Hodge and Steve Cobb are part of the delegation. Official talks are held with Lord Mayor Dr. Lutz Trümper.
June 7, 2002
"Live and Learn in the USA"
The second "Live and Learn in the USA" info fair takes place at the Johanniskirche in Magdeburg with a discussion round on the Magdeburg-Nashville city partnership.
September 9, 2002
"Bridges Over the Atlantic - Seniors in the Internet"
The Magdeburg Senior Citizens' Agency, the community college and the Stadtsparkasse Magdeburg hold a joint kick-off event "Bridges Over the Atlantic - Seniors in the Internet" with the objective of networking and maintaining contacts over the Internet with senior citizens in Nashville.
October 15, 2002
The city of Nashville passes an official resolution on a city partnership with the city of Magdeburg.
Resolution No. RS2002-1207 (sponsored by Bob Bogen, David Briley and Leo Waters).
November 03-11, 2002
A delegation from the German-American Dialog Center visits Nashville.
To initiate further contacts with Nashville and for talks about initial concrete projects, the German-American Dialog Center spokesperson Georg von der Gablentz and administrative manager Christian Hausmann travel to Nashville. Their visit includes numerous talks with representatives of the city and various organizations as well as meetings with Nashville residents.
2003
February 26, 2003
magdeburg-mashville.com
The bilingual Internet portal on city partnership, which the German-American Dialog Center Magdeburg and Yaway Media Magdeburg developed and created,will be presented to the public in the Magdeburg city hall and go officially online.
March 6, 2003
The proposed resolution DS0052/03 will be submitted to the city council for a decision.
Afterward, Magdeburg capital of the state of Saxony-Anhalt in the Federal Republic of Germany will conclude a city partnership agreement based on the partnership criteria of the German Conference of Cities with Nashville capital of the state of Tennessee in the United States of America.
What is more, the Lord Mayor is authorized to conclude a city partnership agreement with the city of Nashville. An official visit to Nashville will take place in May 2003 for this purpose. The city council reached a majority decision, declaring itself in big favour of the city partnership with Nashville.
May 24-29, 2003
Official Delegation from the State Capital Magdeburg in Nashville.
An official delegation from the city of Magdeburg headed by Mayor Dr. Lutz Trümper visited Nashville from May 24 through 29. The highlight of the visit was the signing of the Sister Cities agreement on May 28, 2003.
June 28, 2003
Nashville Day 2003 in Magdeburg
As an event to kick off the city partnership, a “Nashville Day” was held on June 28, 2003 in the Johanniskirche under the patronage of Minister of Education and Culture Prof. Dr. Jan-Hendrik Olbertz and American Consul General Fletcher M. Burton. The varied program revolving around city partnership included the Freien Kammerspiele’s play “freiekammerspiele goes Nashville” and discussions with Dialog Center grantees.
Summer of 2003
Student Exchange
Altogether seventeen school students participated in the first Magdeburg-Nashville student exchange. Daniela Haase, Dialog Center board member, traveled along to Nashville as the chaperone. The Stadtsparkasse Magdeburg’s youth foundation supported the exchange.
October 1-4, 2003
Official first visit from the Mayor of Nashville, Mr. Bill Purcell, and a Delegation from Sister Cities of Nashville
Mayor Bill Purcell, President Doug Berry and other members of Sister Cities of Nashville took part in the official festivities in Magdeburg on the Day of German Unity. The Dialog Center held an extraordinary meeting of members to honor Mayor Bill Purcell on Saturday, October 4, 2003 in the domed hall of the Millennium Tower at the Elbauenpark. At the meeting, honorary membership in the Dialog Center was bestowed on Mayor Purcell and a pair of hemispheres decorated by Magdeburg school students were presented to him.
October 4, 2003
Unveiling of the Partnerstadt Nashville Sign at the City Limits
On Saturday, October 4, 2003, the first sign at the Magdeburg city limits with the crest of our new Sister City Nashville was ceremoniously unveiled at the city limits on the Magdeburger Ring in the presence of Bill Purcell (Mayor of Nashville), Dr. Lutz Trümper (Mayor Magdeburg), Gerhard Heinl (Chair of the City Council) and Dr. Uwe Küster (Chair of the Dialog Center).
November 15-21, 2003
Magdeburg Hemispheres for Nashville
A delegation headed by Dialog Center spokesperson Georg von der Gablentz stayed in Nashville from November 15 through 21 2003. The main event on November 19, 2003 was the ceremonial presentation of the hemispheres to the our Sister City’s mayor Mr. Bill Purcell and the Adventure Science Museum.
Members of the delegation were Paul- Gerhard Stieger (Otto von Guericke University student council spokesperson) and Alexander Mannewitz (Yaway Media).
2004
January 22, 2004
Doug Berry Come in Third as "Magdeburger of the Year"
Sister Cities of Nashville President Doug Berry's active volunteerism prompts the German-American Dialog Center to nominate him for "Magdeburger of the Year 2003". Once the Magdeburg Volksstimme readers' votes had been tallied, Doug Berry had placed third from among ten candidates. US Consul General Fletcher M. Burton attended as honorary guest.
March 29 - April 17, 2004
Second School Student Exchange
A total of ten students from different Magdeburg high schools took part in the second student exchange between Magdeburg and Nashville. Dialog Center member Bianca-Maria Mannewitz also traveled to Nashville as chaperon.
April 24.-28, 2004
Magdeburg Culture Week in Nashville
A delegation with Mayor Lutz Trümper was in Nashville during the first Magdeburg Cultural Week there. Mayors Lutz Trümper and Bill Purcell kicked off the event by opening an exhibition on Otto von Guericke at the Adventure Science Center. Afterward, the Otto von Guericke Society demonstrated the historic hemisphere experiment in Nashville for the first time. In addition, the Magdeburg Puppentheater presented an exhibition on the history of puppet theater in Magdeburg and its puppeteers performed their children's program "Rumpelstiltskin" in English to a sold out audience. Magdeburg Museums Director Dr. Matthias Puhle gave a lecture at the Nashville Public Library on the nearly 1200 year history of the city on the Elbe. The Telemann Consortium Magdeburg also gave a musical guest performance.
May 28, 2004
Nashville Day at the Magdeburg Municipal Library
On the occasion of the one year anniversary of the Sister Cities relationship and in collaboration with the Magdeburg Municipal Library, the Dialog Center held a Nashville Information Day at the library. The Dialog Center organized an exhibition of pictures of the Magdeburg Cultural Week in Nashville taken by Magdeburg photographer Ronny Hartmann.
June 16-17, 2004
Blair Szuzuki Cello Choir from Nashville in Magdeburg
The Blair Szuzuki Cello Choir from Nashville visited Magdeburg and gave guest performances together with the Georg Philipp Telemann Conservatory at the conservatory concert hall and St. Paul's Church.
June 19, 2004
Blair Children's Choir Nashville gives concert in Magdeburg
The girl's choir from the renowned Vanderbilt University in Magdeburg's Sister City Nashville performed a varied program from Bach to Edward Elgar through modern American songs at the Schinkel Hall in the Gesellschaftshaus in Magdeburg.
August 2004
Alternative Service
The German-American Dialog Center Magdeburg has been a state approved sponsor of "alternative service" since 2004. This alternative to conventional military service enables young men to complete their service in charitable institutions abroad.
Gordon Niemann was the first young man sent to Nashville in August 2004 to perform his alternative service. For eleven months, he provided care to socially disadvantaged children and youth at the Martha O'Bryan Center.
August 2004
Beate Hörning interns at the National Library in Nashville
Beate Hörning from the Magdeburg Municipal Library completed a library internship at the public library in our Sister City of Nashville from August 23 through October 8, 2004. She was actively involved in the work there, particularly the library's hundredth anniversary celebration. In addition, she locally supported the Sister Cities relationship and established new contacts. Click here for the detailed reports from Beate Hörning.
2005
January 2005
"Nashville-Ufer" in Magdeburg
In early 2005, the CDU in Magdeburg's city council petitioned to name a street here for our Sister City Nashville.
March 22, 2005
Magdeburg MUN Project Group Visits New York and Nashville
In March, students from Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg took part in the Model United Nations in New York. Based on selection tests in June 2004, eighteen students were chosen from some seventy applicants. They were supervised by six student tutors who had already taken part in simulations in previous years. The Magdeburg students represented the African country of Zambia as well as the non-governmental organization the International Red Cross and Crescent. They took their places as delegates in the original committees and reenacted negotiations on selected issues. Around 3300 students from all over the world attended the Model United Nations in New York. Afterward, the Magdeburg students flew to Nashville for another varied and interesting program put together by Joel Dark and Sister Cities of Nashville.
April 2005
"Magdeburg Street" in Nashville
In early April 2005, German-American Dialog Center spokesman Georg von der Gablentz, traveled to Nashville where he presented Mayor Bill Purcell a very special gift, a proper street sign for Nashville's "Magdeburg Street". The mayor was visibly pleased and is now looking for the right location. The Germantown neighborhood in east Nashville is favored. The naming of streets after the respective Sister Cities is a visible symbol of the Sister Cities relationship. While in Nashville, Georg von der Gablentz visited the Martha O'Bryan Center together with Doug Berry to personally meet with our alternative service sponsee Gordon Niemann from Magdeburg and find out about his social work as well as his experiences. What is more, an agreement was reached to continue the alternative service program at the Martha O'Bryan Center.
May 6, 2005
Get Together at the Cafè am Fluss
A delegation from Nashville was in Magdeburg in early May on the occasion of the "Magdeburg 12hundert" festivities marking the city's anniversary. Along with Mayor Bill Purcell, we welcomed Doug Berry (President of Sister Cities of Nashville), Marion and Bob Bogen, Marietta Shipley, Bill Patrick and Marc Looney. Following a reception given by Saxony-Anhalt Minister President Wolfgang Böhmer, there was a get together for all the supporters of the Magdeburg-Nashville Sister Cities relationship.
The get together arranged by the Dialog Center took place at the Cafè am Fluss directly on the Elbe. The reunion was properly celebrated in a sociable atmosphere. Chairman Uwe Küster presented gifts as signs of our solidarity and even the theater magdeburg shone with a specially prepared cake given the first cut by Bill Purcell. Apart from the Nashville delegation itself, the approximately seventy supporters present included US Consul General Fletcher M. Burton, Magdeburg Mayor Lutz Trümper, city anniversary patron Edzard Reuter and former Magdeburg mayor Willi Polte.
May 7, 2005
Kaiser Otto Prize Awarded
The eponymous foundation for the promotion of European ideals awarded its first Kaiser Otto Prize. The recipient, former Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker, was awarded his prize at the graveside of Otto I in Magdeburg Cathedral during the city's major anniversary ceremony. The 1200 foreign and German guests invited included the delegation from Nashville with Mayor Bill Purcell. He was officially received afterward by Mayor Trümper in the old national bank building near the cathedral. This was followed by a visit to the exhibition on "The History of the City from 805 to 2005" at the Kulturhistorisches Museum. In the evening, all the Nashvillians marveled at the light and sound performance with huge fireworks by the artist Gerd Hof on Magdeburg's cathedral square, which was followed by a party.
May 9, 2005
City Partnership Working Staff
The city partnership working staff had the pleasure of welcoming Doug Berry as its guest of honor to its eighteenth meeting. This was an excellent opportunity to find out about the structures and operation of Sister Cities of Nashville and to talk about upcoming projects such as the joint theater project "das treffen - the other side" in September 2005. An outing to the concert given by Dr. Dewayne Pigg and the Stones River Chamber Player at the Magdeburg Gesellschaftshaus brought the delegation's visit to a pleasant conclusion.
May 31, 2005
Vanderbilt University Chancellor Visits
Vanderbilt University Chancellor Gordon Gee and a delegation from the university visited the capital city of Magdeburg. Other members of the delegation were Claudia Hazelwood, Dr. Joel and Beth Harrington, Michael Schoenfeld and Prof. Dieter Sevin. After our guests from Nashville toured Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and talked at length with University President Pollmann, they met with the members of the Dialog Center for a get together at Fort Mark. They also visited the Fraunhofer Institute and toured Magdeburg cathedral. The previous day, the Nashville delegation had visited the Reichstag in Berlin where they were received by Dr. Uwe Küster, MdB.
June 21, 2005
Farewell to Fletcher M. Burton
On June 21, the German-American Dialog Center Magdeburg hosted a festive reception on theater magdeburg's boulevard stage to say farewell to US Consul General Fletcher M. Burton ". As Consul General in Germany, Fletcher M. Burton not only actively supported the German-American Dialog Center but also the evolving Sister Cities relationship between Magdeburg and Nashville. Without his great personal solidarity, the Sister Cities relationship would have developed far less quickly and successfully. Thus, Mr. Burton played a crucial role in its lasting success. He became a good friend and a close ally in defining and deepening German-American friendship and the Sister Cities relationship between Magdeburg and Nashville. In view of his extraordinary contributions to the Sister Cities relationship, it was deeply important to the German-American Dialog Center to bestow honorary membership on Fletcher M. Burton on the evening he bade Magdeburg farewell.
July 11, 2005
Nashvillepromenade
Magdeburg City Council resolved to rename part of the "Elbuferpromenade" "Nashvillepromenade", thus responding to the desire for a visible symbol of the Sister Cities relationship, intensively supported by the Dialog Center. At the Strandbar in Magdeburg, Dialog Center Chairman Dr. Uwe Küster presented the departing Consul General Fletcher M. Burton with a street sign bearing the name "Nashvillepromenade".
July 13, 2005
Farewell to Bob Bogen
Our Nashvillian Bob Bogen's friends from the Dialog Center in Magdeburg bade him farewell in mid July 2005. A reception in his honor was held at the Cafe am Fluss on July 13. After nearly a year in Magdeburg in which he made many friends and improved his German, he was seen off to his hometown of Nashville. Not only did he take many memories home with him but also a title. He was named Ambassador for Magdeburg for his contributions to the Magdeburg-Nashville Sister Cities relationship. City Manager Steffen Schüller presented him a document certifying this. Bob said he would especially miss the well organized public transportation. On the other hand he was particularly looking forward to seeing his dog.
September 30 - October 2, 2005
Live Transatlantic Project
A special premiere was celebrated at the end of September. As part of Magdeburg's 1200 year anniversary celebration, the joint multimedia project "das treffen - the other side" had its premiere in the theater magdeburg and the Tennessee Repertory Theatre in Nashville. Patrons were Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and Saxony-Anhalt Minister President Wolfgang Böhmer. This was the first time people on two continents were able to simultaneously watch five performances together and see each other by satellite.
August 2005
Alternative Service
Since August 1, 2005, Christoph Pross has been our second sponsee performing his alternative service in Nashville. He is providing care to children at the Martha O'Bryan Center, a charitable organization providing services to disadvantaged children and youths. He has regularly reported on his experiences in the USA. You may read his reports here.
2006
March 8, 2006
America Day at the Municipal Library
The Municipal Library held an America Day as part of the project America @ your library,. The project is encompasses stepped up collaboration between the American Embassy and German libraries to organize workshops, readings and lectures about the United States as well as potentials for virtual cooperation. Selected partner libraries receive books and other informational materials to develop and supplement access to the topic of the USA. One of these libraries is the Magdeburg Municipal Library, which was happy to receive a check for € 2,500 officially presented in the presence of Consul General Mark D. Scheland and Consul for Public Affairs Mark Wenig from the US Consulate General in Leipzig. The Nashville Infopoint in the international section has become an integral part of the Magdeburg Municipal Library.
March 29, 2006
US Ambassador William R. Timken's First Official Visit to Magdeburg
American Ambassador William R. Timken, Jr. paid his first official visit to the capital city of Magdeburg on March 29, 2006 As part of his itinerary, he met with German-American Dialog Center Chairman Uwe Küster, other board members and exchange students for a "roundtable" in the tower apartment of Magdeburg's Grüne Zitadelle (the Hundertwasser house) where he was particularly interested in learning more about the Sister Cities relationship.
April 2006
Georg visits Nashville
In April 2006, Dialog Center spokesman Georg von der Gablentz traveled to Nashville and met with Congressman Jim Cooper, Mayor Bill Purcell, Vanderbilt University Chancellor Gordon Gee and numerous friends in Nashville. At a meeting with Mayor Bill Purcell, Bob Bogen and Doug Berry at the Greenway Commission, the staff there revealed where the future Magdeburg Greenway would run, namely from the main street in Nashville's Germantown neighborhood through Morgan Park to the Cumberland River. Construction should be completed in the summer of 2007. After the meeting, Georg von der Gablentz presented Mayor Bill Purcell a Magdeburg Greenway street sign.
Georg's itinerary also included a visit to the Martha O'Bryan Center where Christoph Pross was performing his alternative service. Also along on the visit was Congressman Jim Cooper from Nashville who was visibly pleased by Christoph's active involvement. At an official meeting with center president Marsha Edwards, an agreement was reached to continue this joint project in 2006/2007. Johannes-Peter Müller from Magdeburg will commence his service in Nashville on August 1 of this year.
August 2006
Alternative Service
Since August 1, 2006, Johannes Peter Müller is the third young man performing alternative service in Nashville where he is working at the Martha O'Bryan Center, a charitable organization providing services to disadvantaged children and youths.
October - November 2006
A Tree for Nashville
Our American Sister City Nashville, Tennessee celebrated its two hundredth birthday on October 1, 2006. The German-American Dialog Center came up with a special idea to mark this event. Wilko Florstedt and Georg von der Gablentz presented the city of Nashville an oak tree as a gift. Giving a tree as a present naturally also has tremendous symbolic value and in this context in particular stands for the growing friendly relations that have developed between both our cities in recent years. Moreover, an oak can grow to be a thousand years old and this tree will thus give pleasure to many future generations of Nashvillians, not least by providing shade on hot days.
On November 18, 2006, the tree was planted on Magdeburg Greenway in the Nashville neighborhood of Germantown with a ceremony in the presence of Bill Purcell and our friends from the Greenways Department
2007
Dialogue Center speaker visits Nashville
In April of 2007, Georg von der Gablentz visited our partner city Nashville and met with many Nashville friends and partners, amongst them Mayor Bill Purcell and Chancellor of the Vanderbilt University, Gordon Gee. The continuation of the project Other Service was arranged with the Martha O’Bryan Center.
August 2007 – Other Service
Since August 1st, 2007, Maximilian Berrens is the 4th employee for the „other Service“in the Martha O’Bryan Center in Nashville.
August 2007 – Bill Purcell’s visit
From the 16th-19th August, 2007, Nashville’s Mayor Bill Purcell flew to Magdeburg for his third and final visit. Our friends from Nashville, Bob Bogen and, President of Sister Cities of Nashville, Doug Berry, accompanied him.
On August 16th, the German-American Dialogue Center held a reception at the Magdeburg Lukasklause in honor of Mayor Bill Purcell. All members and friends of the city partnership were invited. The Magdeburg newspaper, the Volksstimme, took this opportunity to present Mayor Purcell with a special edition. Magdeburg’s Mayor Dr. Lutz Trümper also attended the affair. The following days, Mayor Bill Purcell and our Nashville Friends visited the Nashville-Info-Point in Magdeburg’s city library and, on a sightseeing flight, saw the city from a different perspective. Family Kühne continued with tradition and extended an invitation for a celebratory feast at Wanzleben Castle. The crowning glory of the program was the Hot Air Balloon Festival in the Elbauen Park, to which our friends from Nashville were invited.
2008
May 2008 – Official visit in Nashville
Early May of 2008, the spokesman for the German-American Dialogue Center, Georg von der Gablentz, went to Nashville for an official visit. There he met with the new Mayor Karl Dean. He also met with the director of the Martha O’Bryan Center, to continue the good cooperation between them on the project of the last five years “Other Service”. With the director of the “Preston Taylor Ministries” Association he arranged for the implementation of the already sealed project Civil Service Year.
May 28th, 2008 - 5 years of city partnership Magdeburg-Nashville
On Wednesday the 28th of May, 2008, the city partnership between Magdeburg and Nashville celebrated it’s five year anniversary. At a small ceremony, the new Other Service workers for the 2008/2009 term were announced. US General Consulate Mark D. Scheland, Magdeburg’s Mayor Dr. Lutz Trümper, and Dr. Uwe Küster were among the honored guests. Jonas Tonn of Magdeburg was named as the worker for the 5th term. The ceremony also announced the start of a new city partnership project – the civil service year for young women. Along with the Other Service, this is another way to intensify the friendships between the cities. The 17 year old Magdeburger Lea Grupe was also announced to the public. She will be the first female alumna of the civil service year, and will work at Nashville’s “Preston Taylor Ministries” as a guidance counselor for youths.
June 2008 – Visit from Prof. Joel Dark and Tennessee State University students
June 11th to the 15th, 2008, Prof. Joel Dark led a student delegation from the Tennessee State University of Nashville on a return visit to Magdeburg. Prof. Joel Dark and the Nashville Students visited Magdeburg within the scope of their course “Germany and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement”. They met and attended seminars with students of the Otto-von-Guericke University. They visited the parliament of Saxony-Anhalt and spoke with Parliament President Dieter Steinecke.
June 21st, 2008 - Westminster Presbyterian Church Choir from Nashville comes to Magdeburg
The Westminster Presbyterian Church Choir from Nashville, on its European Tour, gave a concert in the Magdeburg Cathedra with the cathedral’s choir. A ceremony for over 100 participants and guests was held at the end by the German-American Dialogue Center and the Church.
July 2008
Our member Julia Küchler finished her internship with our partner organization „Sister Cities of Nashville“.
July 10th, 2008 – Relay Transfer – Other Service in Nashville
At a press conference at the “Hyde”, Maximilian Berrens, worker for the Other Service, handed over the position to the new worker Jonas Tonn. He also reported with help of photos, etc, of the work he provided during his year in Nashville.
August 2008 – Begin of the Other Service in Nashville
The new worker Jonas Tonn began his Other Service at the Martha O`Bryan Center in Nashville.
August 2008 – Goodbye Lea Grupe
On August 14th, 2008, Lea Grupe officially said goodbye. She began her civil service year at the „Preston Taylor Ministries“ in Nashville on August 25th, 2008.
