Nashvillians in Magdeburg
Bob Bogen in Magdeburg
Bob Bogen is one of the "spiritual fathers" of the Magdeburg-Nashville Sister Cities relationship.
Report
Curriculum Vitae
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Bob Bogen´s Report: Journey to Berlin
Naturally, I was pleased to receive an invitation to travel to Berlin with Magdeburg citizens who have an interest in political issues. I did have a direct involvement in politics as an elected member of the City Council of Nashville / Tennessee, USA.
Additionally my career in representing the organization of 4000 public school teachers for a 35-year period as Executive Director required a great deal of involvement in working with elected officials at the local, state and national levels.
My lobbing efforts were directed at raising the level of funding for the public school system with 70.000 students in Nashville. Of course, our local organization was involved with such issues at the state and national levels.
Even since I was asked to serve on the Board of Director of Nashville's Sister Cities Program, I took a more active role in using my post retirement position on the City Council to prepare, introduce and lobby for the passage of the Resolution corresponding to what was being done in Magdeburg to unite our two cities officially in a partnership arrangement.
I have met numerous officials of government since first visiting Magdeburg several years ago. Some of my favorite people here are Willi Polte, who was Mayor on my first visit, and City Council member Olaf Czogalla and Falko Balzer, who now serves as the President of the City Council. I later had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Uwe Küster at several functions in Magdeburg. I found him to be an active leader, very astute and well respected. His staff director at the German American Dialog Center has provides me very effective assistance in getting acquainted with key persons in government and business in Magdeburg.
Both Georg von der Gablentz and his assistant, Christian Hausmann, have helped me a great deal since I arrived here on September 27, 2004. With the help of all these fine officials, I am certain I can contribute to helping our Sister Cities President Doug Berry in continuing to build a stronger, more effective relationship between our two cities. It is an excellent opportunity for me to make my retirement a rewarding experience.
As I got on the bus for our trip to Berlin, I was greeted by Georg. He had me seated next to him so that he could orient me (in English) on the way up and back. Since his English is so good, he was able to give me understanding of the program which I needed because of my limited German, with such an american accent I am told.
Even then I was not fully aware of the significance of the tours we were to make in the city during our two-day visit. Although I am in Magdeburg with my study program in "Deutsch als Fremdsprache" in order to improve my knowledge of the language ... speaking, writing, reading and generally understanding German better, understood the background of the various visits from new friends on the bus who spoke some English. Their explanations really helped.
I was very much interested in the exhibits we saw at the German Resistance Memorial Center. Georg showed me a picture of his grandfather who was involved in the efforts to remove Hitler and National Socialism (Nazi Party) in Germany. Although their efforts failed, their courage and personal sacrifice of their lives gave testimony to the strength and determination of those with just cause opposed Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. To say the best it was a very enlightening experience for me as an American who only knew about such matters from afar as a teenager in the US Navy.
We also visited the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation which carries out such important work in focusing on gender quality on the international level. That issue is one we in America can say has made great strides in the twentieth century.
On the way to the most impressive governmental buildings, we stopped at a mosque where evening prayers were in progress. That was a first for me since there are no mosques in Nashville that I am aware of.
Certainly, a highlight of our time in Berlin was our visits to the buildings which house Germany's Bundesrat and Bundestag. Security was very much in evidence. The Bundestag was in session and we had an opportunity to see Dr. Küster in action.
Later he came to meet with our 50-member delegation from Magdeburg. He was very kind to mention that my 78th Birthday was the day before we left for Berlin. I also received a beautiful, bound book of 238 pages replete with many colored pictures of "Der Fünfzehnte Deutsche Bundestag". He also wrote a personal birthday greeting which I deeply appreciated.
We also had the privilege of hearing from Mister Franz Müntefering, who is the party leader for SPD. He was certainly impressive as he answered questions from members of our group. Despite my limited German, I felt certain he had a good group of the several issues which were raised.
All in all, I will say that the highlight of my visit in Magdeburg since September 27, 2004 was there to trip to Berlin. It was a great experience! It was really an honor and privilege to attend such a well organized even with a most informative program. I would like to commend all who organized the trip and all who participated so effectively.
Bob Bogen
Nashville/TN (November, 2004)
