Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg

Logo of the CarlSchurz Haus Freiburg
Entrance to the Carl Schurz Haus Freiburg

The Carl-Schurz-Haus is a German-American institution which was founded in 1952 as Amerika-Haus (engl.: America-House) in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. Since the 1960s, it has been a binational cultural center which organizes around 250 events annually focused on current trends. It is a meeting place for people interested in America and culture, and offers lectures, workshops and literary readings with American and German experts. It also offers movie series, an English library with more than 12,000 titles, advice for students who want to study in an English-speaking country and English language courses taught exclusively by native speakers. The Carl-Schurz-Haus is a contact point for the Freiburg-Madison-Gesellschaft, an association that supports the relationship between Freiburg and its partner city of Madison, Wisconsin; and for the larger German-American business community in Baden.

History

Amerika-Haus was founded on October 17, 1952 as an information center of the United States Information Agency and had its first location at Goetheplatz 2, also serving at first as a branch office of the US-consulate general in Stuttgart. Three years later, the House moved to a location at Bertoldstraße 8 in the city center. Because of a change in ownership of the Bertoldstraße location in the mid-sixties, a new building was needed for the Amerika-Haus by May 31, 1965. When plans to move to the restored Kornhaus failed in 1964, the institution was able to make plans to move into several levels of the new building of the Café Herzog at Kaiser-Joseph-Straße 266. The Program department and administration moved to the new building in 1965 and the library and lecture hall opened to the public in May 1966. In 2006, the Amerika-Haus moved again and re-opened on January 28, 2006 at its current location (as of May 2017) at Eisenbahnstraße 58–62.

Financial cuts by the US government led to the reorganization into a binational institution in 1962 to secure the house economically and financially. The US Information Service (USIS), the federal government, the state Baden-Württemberg and the city of Freiburg supported this change financially. The club Freiburger Amerika-Haus e.V. was founded and the 10-year anniversary of the Freiburg Amerika-Haus was honored with a festive discussion about western culture politics.

In 1969, the association's name was changed to Carl-Schurz-Haus/Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut e.V., following a proposal by the executive board, to honor the 140th birthday of Carl Schurz. The name change was celebrated in March 1969 with a festive lecture about him.

American literature professor and feminist Eva Manske served as head of the organization for fifteen years from 1993. She was succeeded in 2008 by Christine Gerhardt.[1]

References

  1. ↑ "Freiburg: Mehr Zeit für den Mann – und für Yoga - Leute in der Stadt: Eva Maske, Ex-Chefin im Carl-Schurz-Haus". Badische Zeitung. Freiburg im Breisgau. 2008-10-31. Retrieved 2014-10-25.
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