Bill Purcell Special
Interview with Bill Purcell, Mayor of Nashville
Mister Mayor, Nashville will be celebrating its 200th anniversary on October 1st. What can your guests expect at the celebrations titled “Celebrate Nashville”?
Celebrate Nashville will be a nine-month celebration of all the things that make Nashville a great city from neighborhoods to the Grand Ole Opry. The activities will begin with the dedication of the Public Square at our historic Courthouse on Oct. 1 and will continue to the annual July Fourth Concert and Fireworks at Riverfront Park. It is my hope that Magdeburg and other Sister Cities will help us celebrate the special partnership we share as part of our Celebrate Nashville activities.
From the beginning, you have been deemed a great friend and patron of Magdeburg and the link between our cities. How do you rate the development of the partnership up to now and how do see its future?
The relationship between Magdeburg and Nashville is ideal, from the grassroots of the sister cities committees to the top of our city halls. It has included an exchange of ideas and interests since its beginnings just four years ago. Today the Magdeburg Hemispheres hang in the Adventure Science Center as a reminder of this partnership and the history behind the two cities. I am confident that the important first steps taken to cement this relationship will expand in the future to encompass greater economic and tourism opportunities for both our cities.
What do you enjoy in particular about your sister city Magdeburg, where you have come together with so many people on different occasions during the last years?
The friendliness and enthusiasm of the people of Magdeburg is a great memory from my visits and from the times I have greeted delegations in Nashville. It is something I believe we share.
The bilingual internet portal www.magdeburg-nashville.com is now three years old. Are you personally a “user” of this page, and what is your opinion on the importance it has for the dialogue between the people of both cities?
I do use the web site to learn about the activities in Magdeburg. It is the best such site I have ever seen and shows the great progress we have made together.
In Magdeburg, it was noted with great interest that there will be a “Magdeburg Greenway” in Nashville’s section Germantown. What significance does the Greenway project have for Nashville?
The Greenway expansion is part of the quality of life in Nashville which earned us the number one spot on Kiplinger's list of 50 Smart Cities for affordability and livability. Greenways connect neighborhoods all across the city in a personal way. People bike, walk, exercise and relax on our greenways. The greenway in the Germantown neighborhood serves as a reminder of Nashville's historic German ties both with the immigrants of the past and with our Sister City for the future.
Since 2003, a pair of Magdeburg hemispheres can be viewed at Nashville’s Adventure Science Museum, and they themselves had quite an adventurous journey from Magdeburg. During the “Magdeburg Culture Week”, the great hemisphere experiment was presented in Nashville. Which story does this bring to your memory?
The recreation of the great hemisphere experiment was a very special moment for our Sister Cities relationship. It allowed the people of Nashville to witness a part of the history of Magdeburg that is a part of the collective history we share of science. One sidelight of that event was the debate over whether to use our Tennessee mules or horses for the event. In the end it was decided to follow the historic precedent and find the appropriate horses for the occasion.
You’ve been to the Strandbar on Nashvillepromenade in Magdeburg. What do you think of the idea of having a beach bar on the banks of the Cumberland River in Nashville?
As my wife reminds me often, there is no bad day at the beach, and the Strandbar on Nashvillepromenade is a special place. Here in Nashville we are lucky to have several beaches on Percy Priest and Old Hickory Lakes. Nevertheless, a beach like Paris and Magdeburg have in the downtown is worth trying to emulate.
In September, the German-American Dialogue Center, of which you are an honorary member, will celebrate its 6th anniversary. Which personal affiliations do you have with the Dialogue Center, and which perspectives do you see for the future.
The dialogue center is one of the special places of hope in our world and provides reassurance that our communication and understanding will not only lift up the members but make the world a better and safer place.
Do you have a special personal wish for the Magdeburg-Nashville city partnership?
During your 1200 celebration last year, I said that I hoped in 1000 years we would have a celebration to equal Magdeburg's - and so my wish is that a millennium from now, we will still be learning and teaching and lifting up our friends and their cities which will continue to be known as two of the best places in the world to live and work and raise a family.
Interview: Georg von der Gablentz
Translation: Stephen G. Stehli
Photographer: Ronny Hartmann
