Bill Purcell Special
Choose now:
- Magdeburg: Love at First Sight
- Greetings from Bill Purcell
- Picture Show Bill Purcell
- NEW: Pictures from Bill Purcell´s farewell visit in Magdeburg
- Speech Bill Purcell (May 24, 2007, Nashville/TN)
- Curriculum vitae Bill Purcell
- Interview with Bill Purcell (June 2006)
Magdeburg: Love at First Sight
When Bill Purcell made his first formal visit to Magdeburg in 2003 as reelected mayor of Nashville, nobody could have guessed that such a special relationship would develop. Today, he is on his farewell visit as mayor of our Sister City Nashville.
Bill Purcell, born on October 25, 1953, is Nashville's fifth mayor. He is married and has one daughter who was also already in Magdeburg once. His time in office was characterized by his hard work, dedication, expertise and his impressive special charisma. He saw to it that Nashville experienced an impressive upswing in every respect in recent years. For instance, thirty schools in Nashville were built or renovated under his leadership. The election results of 2003 are a clear endorsement of his achievements.
October 1, 2003 can be considered the starting point of Bill Purcell's special friendship. He visited Magdeburg for the first time and was extremely impressed right away. It was clear that a special relationship had been born when he also dedicated the "Partnerstadt Nashville" sign at the city limits at the end of his first visit. A reciprocal visit from Magdeburg couldn't wait long. In November 2003, it was time. A small delegation from Magdeburg also had a special gift for the host in its luggage. At a ceremonial presentation, it presented Bill Purcell two hemispheres school students from Magdeburg had specially designed specifically for this purpose. Since then, the hemispheres have been given a permanent spot in the Adventure Science Center.
During his second visit for the 1200 year anniversary of the city of Magdeburg in 2005, Bill Purcell was present when the first Kaiser Otto Award was bestowed on Richard von Weizsäcker.
When the city of Nashville celebrated its two hundredth birthday in October 2006, a delegation from the Dialog Center visited and brought along a surprise, "A Tree for Nashville", an oak tree that that clearly symbolized the growing friendship between the two cities. Since he never shied from work, Bill Purcell didn't pass up the opportunity to plant and water the tree himself on Magdeburg Greenway in Germantown.
A big fan of the Internet, Bill Purcell also likes to view the great memories online.
The website www.magdeburg-nashville.com is one of his favorites whenever he wants to find out about the latest developments in his "favorite Sister City".
Many projects would not have been possible without his support. Thus, from the very beginning and together with the President of Sister Cities of Nashville Doug Berry, he supported the "alternative service abroad". Only this has enabled the Dialog Center to send four young men from Magdeburg for eleven months at a time to the Martha O'Brian Center in East Nashville since 2004.
Without a doubt, Bill Purcell, just like Fletcher Burton, has been a boon for the Sister Cities relationship! For this reason, Magdeburg's German-American Dialog Center is extremely pleased to have both as honorary members in our ranks.
Although he was always extremely busy, his office was always open for visitors from Magdeburg and all the visitors have genuinely sensed that they were sincerely welcome.
In a few days, Bill Purcell will leave office - yet a friend remains.
Author: Georg von der Gablentz
