It is a good year to be of German heritage, and Eastern Michigan University’s German Club showed just that at their fifth annual celebration of German-American Day Wednesday.
The event brought EMU students and faculty members together with area high school students to celebrate German contribution to American life, as well as the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany after World War II all this year.
EMU German-language professor and organizer of the program Margrit Zinggeler said of the turnout, “The event was bigger [than last year] and the President came to the dinner, as well as the Provost for awhile.”
German Club members were happy with the turnout as well.
“I was excited to see there are still Americans interested in German culture,” said Ed Niepoth, a Master of Ceremony for the event.
Other German Club members who spent their summers in Germany spoke of their experiences. Recipient of the Egbert R. and Florentine O. Isbell Scholarship for travel to Germany and Club Treasurer Mary DeLong said, “It was great to see so many high school students and other people. It was a much bigger turnout than last year.”
One of the teachers who brought students to EMU was David Baldwin, who received his post-baccalaureate in German and English secondary education from EMU. He’s now a teacher in Novi and brought 26 high school students to the event, including four foreign exchange students from Germany.
“We were able to bring a lot more students to this year’s event than last year’s,” Baldwin said. “And they enjoyed it. I’m hoping they will spread the message and increase the program at the school. I don’t think American kids really know the story behind the [Berlin] Wall and East and West Germany.”
During the program two of Baldwin’s German-born students, Tim Reimers and Tobias Baer, went on stage along with three other German natives to answer questions about their home country. The other natives were Stefan Burger, a graduate student studying Computer Science at EMU who came this semester from Karlsruhe, and faculty members Kai Blum and Walburga Zahn. Blum, who was in East Germany when the wall fell, talked of his experiences during the historic event, which included a recollection of the peaceful revolution that preceded it.
Another speaker, Fulbright scholar Jason Fisher, spoke of his time in Germany teaching English to high school students.
Two other German alumni, Josepf Moreman and Amanda Melone, talked of their experience in the international business world, and stressed the importance of knowing another language in the competitive business market today.
A documentary on the Berlin Wall was played during the program, as well as several YouTube videos, including a music video for a song called “Wir Sind Das Volk,” celebrating the reuniting of the German people.
Corey Mundale, a German and French student at EMU, said of the music video, “It was absolutely awful but everyone enjoyed laughing at it.”
Club Vice President Jason Leineke said that the German Club has been a lot more active this year in general. The group’s meetings, which they call Stammtish, German for meeting table, have been flourishing and may be moving to the local Tower Inn.
“It’s mostly just a way for students who understand and respect German culture and language to get together and talk about it and practice their German.”
He said that students can contact him for more info about the club at sa_germanclub@emich.edu.
