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For the first time, the French and the Germans staged an event together in Charlotte and it turned out to be a success. In order to celebrate the 57th Anniversary of German-French Friendship Treaty (and its renewal a year ago in Aachen by Chancellor Merkel and President Macron), The N.C. Zeitgeist Foundation and the Alliance Française joined forces and about 35 people came together spontaneously. Everybody thought the idea was great, enjoyed the event and it is the intention shared by all to put such an event on bigger feet next year.  The N.C. Zeitgeist Foundation’s successful year ended accordingly: in pure elegance, on a high note: selected 65 guests enjoyed an evening in relaxed atmosphere, in a gorgeously decorated space, with champagne, excellent food and wine. Klaus Becker, the German Honorary Consul and chairman of the foundation, commended the guests for being brave by overcoming prevailing triskaidekaphobia (the fear of the number 13); after all, this prestigious event took place on Friday, the 13th! The evening was accompanied by Opera Carolina Soprano Amanda Sesler and Tenor Johnathan White who stunningly performed arias by Puccini, Léhar and Verdi. The guests were completely moved by the vocal presence and asked for a daccapo. One of the guests remarked: "Last night was a wonderful evening and my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The food was great, the singers were amazing, and the other guests were, once again, very nice. Thank you for the invitation and your warm hospitality." What a wonderful way to finish the year. On November 19, The N.C. Zeitgeist Foundation staged the III. Community Symposium in cooperation with and at Charlotte Country Day School with the topic “30 Years after Peaceful Revolutions”. Key-note speakers were Dr. Niels von Redecker, Director of the German Information Center USA at the German Embassy in Washington and Dr. Piotr Erenfeicht, Chief of Political and Economic Section at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland. Both were later joined by panelist Chris Domeny, Honorary Consul of Hungary. Mike Hawley, Sr. Partner at K+L Gates, masterfully moderated this intellectual jewel of panel discussion.  At the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Wall, Honorary Consul and chairman of the N.C. Zeitgeist Foundation Klaus Becker gave a speech to the topic: 70 Years of Peace – 30 Years Fall of the Wall - Where does the History Snail Go?- The event took place at the premises of the Mittelstands-Company Menzel in Spartanburg whose lawn adjacent to I-85 was decorated with two original pieces of the Wall between the two Germanys.
Luncheon with Knut Dethlefsen, Executive Director of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Washington, DC9/26/2019
Charlotte—The N.C. Zeitgeist Foundation hosted its annual white asparagus dinner at the Charlotte City Club on June 6, 2019. More than eighty guests enjoyed the champagne reception and an exquisite 3-course white asparagus meal. The highlight of the evening was this year’s keynote speaker, Sven Afhüppe, the editor-in-chief of Handelsblatt and co-author of the recently published book “Europa kann es besser.” Mr. Afhüppe, who specially came from Germany to join the event, addressed in his speech current challenges of Germany and the European Union, Brexit and the transatlantic relations between Germany and the United States. To receive the Handelsblatt’s free digital summary on the most important business and finance news, Handelsblatt Morning Briefing, on every trade day, sign up at: https://morningbriefing.handelsblatt.com/de/newsletter. A special thank-you to Sven Afhüppe and all our guests! Photos by Brandon Scott
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