Programs and Events

Selected Events 2008

Long Beach Delegation Members Acting as Environmental Ambassadors

CG Johnson and the delegates from Long Beach, California

April 3, 2008. The Consulate General held a reception for a seven member delegation, headed by Mayor Bob Foster, from Long Beach, CA. The delegation’s visit to Hamburg and other European ports had a twofold purpose. First was to share best practices on environmental policies (e.g. Long Beach has an ambitious project in place through which pollution is to be reduced by 47% by 2020), and, second was to meet shipping customers (e.g. Hapag-Lloyd). Consul General Johnson and a senior representative from the Container Security Initiative (CSI) program at the Port of Hamburg briefed the delegation on CSI and post’s relations with Hamburg’s law-enforcement authorities.

CG Johnson Meets with Stralsund Lord Mayor

Fröhling, Lastovka, Johnson and Hacker (Photo: Hansestadt Stralsund/KOSLIK)

April 2, 2008. Consul General Karen Johnson met with Lord Mayor Lastovka in Stralsund. During this visit the CG discussed German-American relations and U.S. security policy in Afghanistan. She also signed the golden book of the city of Stralsund and toured significant sites in this UNESCO designated city. After the visit CG Johnson stated " Now I see why Stralsund belongs to our world heritage."

NDRInfo Joins MeetUS Program on U.S. Foreign Policy with Consul General Johnson

Consul General Johnson discusses with group of young students

April 1, 2008. Consul General Karen E. Johnson welcomed 27 German high school students (grades 11 to 13) and their Fulbright teaching assistant for a MeetUS program at the consulate. The focus of the program was on current American foreign policy objectives, especially with regard to the situation in Afghanistan. NDRInfo had sent a reporter to cover the meeting and to interview Timothy Beaucage who has been participating in a number of MeetUS programs in the consular district. The students very much enjoyed the frank and lively discussion they had with CG Johnson and stressed that they obtained a better understanding of the reasons for the U.S. engagement in Afghanistan. NDRInfo will broadcast a report on the visit and the MeetUS program in the coming weeks.

“We Will Jazz You” Jazz Appreciation Month Observed in Stralsund

Students and Christian Klette, Förderverein Jugendkunst e.V. (r.) present artwork to CG Johnson (m.), Photo: M. Weber, OZ Stralsund

March 31- April 3, 2008. During a three-day workshop entitled JAZZ + X, 50 high school students (grades 9 to 11) from the Hansa-Gymnasium and Goethe-Gymnasium learned about the history of Jazz, its role in U.S. society and its influence on the fine arts at the Speicher am Katharinenberg in Stralsund. In hands-on workshops, the young people experimented with music, digital media, and diverse art techniques and created music and artworks related to the overall theme. The musicians Gonçalo de Almeida (POR), Wieland Möller (GER) and Kerry Williams (U.S.), and educators of the Förderverein Jugendkunst e.V. conducted the workshops. In addition, the students had the opportunity to visit an exhibition on jazz history at the city library and check out books and DVDs that were recently acquisitioned as part of the A@YL partnership. Consul General Karen E. Johnson and Lord Mayor Harald Lastovka attended the final presentation of the workshop results. In her remarks, CG Johnson noted that jazz is considered a major U.S. contribution to world culture. The U.S. Consulate General in Hamburg supported JAZZ + X in cooperation with the City Library Stralsund and the Förderverein Jugendkunst e.V. Watch a documentary here:
http://www.jugendkunst.de/aktuell/akt080402.php
More on Jazz Appreciation Month 2008

Consulate General Hosts Principals and Teachers

Karen E. Johnson with the group at the consulate

March 25, 2008. The U.S. Consulate General in Hamburg hosted a group of 27 teachers and principals from Hesse. Consul General Karen E. Johnson delivered a speech on "U.S. Security Policy and the Fight against International Terrorism". The event was organized by Bundeswehr youth officer and was part of a three-day security-policy seminar in northern Germany. In her remarks Consul General Johnson embarked on her recent experience as director for the the U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) in Afghanistan. Her vivid explanations and first-hand experience that security is a prerequesite for reconstruction intrigued the audience.

"The Lorax" won the hearts of High School Students in Rostock

Timothy Beaucage (right) and Miguel Lozano (left)

March 4, 2008. Fulbright teaching assistant Timothy Beaucage and exchange student Miguel Lozano read Dr. Seuss’s classic children’s story to 3rd and 4th grade students and their English teachers from the Werkstattschule at the Rostock Literaturhaus. For many decades Dr. Seuss’s classic introduced several generations of kids to the concepts of environmentalism and conservation. more

Reading by Amy Bloom

March 3, 2008. Author Amy Bloom read from her work Away, addressing more than 100 literature buffs at the Consulate General. Her story about a character that comes to America after her family was destroyed in a Russian pogrom and then embarks on an odyssey from New York to Alaska to find her daughter caught the audience's imagination. more

Hamburg Conference on Managing Diversity in Secondary Education

February 14-16, 2008. PA Hamburg sponsored a three-day conference on "Schools with Migrant Background", in which two U.S. experts participated: Prof.  John Mollenkopf from the City University of New York and Prof. Margery Martin from New York University. The Hamburg intercultural NGO verikom had organized the conference in cooperation with the University of Hamburg and the ZEIT foundation. more

Advancing U.S. Cooperation with Lower Saxony

February 5, 2008. Consul General Johnson discussed further cooperation on integration efforts with Lower Saxony’s Minister President Christian Wulff. They also talked about the important role American companies play in Lower Saxony’s economy and further developing trade relations between Lower Saxony and the U.S. Consulate General Hamburg’s district is composed of the five Northern German states, including Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony.

Advancing U.S. Cooperation with Schleswig-Holstein

Turkish Community Active in Training Youth in Schleswig-Holstein

February 4, 2008. Chairman of the Turkish Community of Schleswig-Holstein Dr. Cebel Kücükkaraca and members of the board introduced Consul General Karen E. Johnson to their job-training programs for young people with migrant backgrounds.  The Consulate plans to organize with the Turkish Community of Schleswig-Holstein the first “Windows on America” youth delegation to visit the United States for two weeks in the fall.

Election Program for High School Students

January 23, 2008. Political Economical Officer Genevieve Libonati and Cultural Affairs Assistant Martina Schulze teamed up to welcome two school classes from the city of Buxtehude, Lower Saxony, at the Hamburg consulate. The 10th and 11th graders and their teachers had requested to learn about the U.S. election process and exchange programs. more