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The N.C. Zeitgeist Foundation celebrated its Christmas Party 2021 at Cedarwood Country Club on Saturday, December 18. It was a wonderful amalgam of the musicians’ playing so perfectly together, the presentation of historic tidbits and guidance through the concert, and then the festive dinner accompanied by ”lagrime-furtive-evoking” arias. Concert pianist was Zaïba Sheikh, and Soprano Julia Woodward and Tenor Johnathan White presented wonderful arias from Antonín Dvořák’s tender ‘Song to the Moon’ to the emotional ‘O Sole Mio’. In the Ode to Beethoven, they were accompanied by the string quartet Alice Silva, Jenny Owens, Jen Wiggens and Brian Arreola. A high point was certainly Ode to Joy of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony which is the European anthem. On Sep 16, 2021, The N.C. Zeitgeist Foundation celebrated its opening of a branch in Charleston. It was an elegant event which took place in the Carolina Yacht Club and was made possible by a generous gesture of Anne and Dick Keigher. The invitation-only Champagne-Reception and dinner were hosted by The N.C. Zeitgeist Foundation and the Hanns-Seidel Foundation, who had invited to this wonderful dinner. The event was also sponsored generously by the College of Charleston whose President Andrew Hsu attended as well as representatives of the School of Languages, Cultures and World Affairs and its Advisory Board. Besides Mayor John Tecklenburg, other notable representatives of Charleston’s international business community and members of the city’s society also enjoyed the evening. It is planned to share the events in the future. It is tentatively scheduled to have Jean-Arthur Régibeau, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium come to the Carolinas on Jan. 25-27 to attend events in Charlotte, Charleston and at UNC at Chapel Hill.
Live Event with Tomas Baert, Head of Trade + Agriculture at the E.U. Embassy in Washington9/15/2021
On Wednesday, Sep. 15, The N.C. Zeitgeist Foundation started the staging of live events again: they invited Tomas Baert, Head of Trade + Agriculture at the E.U. Embassy in Washington, to give a key-note speech about new challenges in trade between United States on the one hand, and the European Union on the other hand. The invitation-only event took place at Dressler’s midtown and was attended by leaders of the international business community and County Manager Dena Diorio. The Hanns-Seidel Foundation had invited to the dinner and the Champagne-Reception was made possible by Roedl + Partners. Both contributions were very generous.  We were cordially received by Sr. V.P. Jordi Yarborough at the South Carolina Ports Authority:  Further we delegation visited with John Tecklenburg, Mayor of Charleston:  At the College of Charleston in front of many students and professors, Jean-Arthur Régibeau gave an insight into the function of an Ambassador and gave his view on Belgium’s role within the E.U.  The Key-note speech was given at the venerable Charleston Library Society  The day was crowned by a festive reception and dinner at the Carolina Yacht Club  Last Saturday Klaus Becker and Johanna Steinz organized a meeting of the TEASE IV Artists : Outside and via Video call. For the first time the group came together “in person “. From Charlotte: Norma Gely, Terry Thirion , Bryan Wilson From Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany: Shirin Goldstein, Paetrick Schmidt Hopes are high for kicking off The TEASE Art Tour in April 2021!  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.
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