In 1992 at the occasion of the "American Days" of the European Culture Center in "Haus Dacheroeden" a few local Germans, who were enthused about America, its language and its culture, and some Americans, who taught and lived here, had the idea of founding a club. And right then and there on February 22nd, 1992 - it was the 260th birthday of George Washington - the German-American Association was born.

At the same time some people met weekly at an English-Stammtisch. ("Stammtisch" in Germany is a reserved table at a restaurant or pub, where always the same group of people is getting together, or it can also refer to this group of people that is meeting there). Since a lot of the new members of the German-American Association gathered at this "Stammtisch" regularly, these get-togethers developed into an important center for communication and into a birthplace for many new ideas. Here in these early days - with the help and initiative of our member Udo Koester - the German-American Association also designed its DAG-logo. (DAG stands for Deutsch-Amerikanische Gesellschaft).

From the beginning the goal of our association was the cultivation of mutual understanding and continuing friendship between the German and the American people as well as the elimination of all prejudices old or new. We see this as a contribution to international communication and understanding and that's why we always welcome guests of other nations and cultures as well.

A very important center in the life of our DAG is the introduction of American culture and lifestyle. That's why since our founding we observe the most important American holidays as f.e. Independance Day on July 4th, Halloween (originally a celtic celebration of survival and overcoming all evil spirits) on Oct.31st and Thanksgiving (celebrated in memory of the meal that the first English settlers had together with the Indians in appreciation for their help, the first crop and in giving thanks for having survived the first year on the new continent), always on the 4th Thursday in November.

This - in America - is the most important holiday, usually observed and celebrated within the family. It unites all Americans, no matter what race, religious or cultural background they come from. The celebration of Thanksgiving with the traditional Turkey-Dinner grew to be the most important activity, the highlight of the year in our association as well. The mdr reported about this event in its TV news in 1998.

In the summer of 1993 we had welcomed the German-American Assocoation Wilhelmshaven in Erfurt. This was the beginning of a continuously developing friendship between the members of the two organizations. We continue to welcome youth exchange groups from Wilhelmshaven and its American partner town Norfolk. Va. Also return visits of our DAG members in Wilhelmshaven have become customary in the meantime. In those early days the Wilhellmshaven DAG also promoted contacts with other German-American Clubs, to the Regional Associations and with the Federation of all German-American Clubs in Germany. In the following years at several occasions we were hosts to the students of the Federations Youth Exchange Program. We also hosted a Regional Meeting of the Federation in 1996.

The election of Michael Ehrler as president of our assocoation in 1997 was a big step forward. He renewed the connections with the America-House in Leipzig, an agency of the American Embassy, which had already been made at the time of the foundation of the DAG. Michael Ehrler - with the help and support of the State of Thuringia and the Town of Erfurt - also was successful in creating a regularly staffed bureau in the "Begegnungsstätte Kleine Synagoge" together with four other German-Foreign Associations. (Address of the "Begegnungsstätte" see contact). The "Begegnungsstaette" also offers rooms for public events.
Since the before mentioned contacts to the Federation of German-American Associations developed well and deepened the DAG joined the Federation as a member in 1998. And since that time we are able to actively participate in the Federations Student Exchange Program. From the year 2000 on our association is taking care of one American student, who qualified for a stipendium of the Federation and studies for a year at the University of Erfurt. Vice versa a student of Erfurt or its vicinity is given the opportunity to study for one year at one of the partner universities of the Federation in the US.
In the meantime the cooperation with the university in Erfurt especially with the faculty for North-American History grew substantially. Since the year 2000 we are cooperating in staging many public events.
Since we joined the federation - or the "Federation of German-American Clubs e. V.", to be precise - in Germany in 1998, we naturally took part in the annual convention (assembly of members of the federation) with a few delegates of our own. After taking part only twice, meaning in the third year of our membership, we organized the convention in the year 2001. This was the first to take place in the new German states after Germany's reunification in 1990. It went from June 22 to June 24, 2001, and the registration and accommodations were arranged in Erfurt's Hotel "Radisson SAS". The traditional banquet with festivities in the headquarters of the State Development Corporation of Thuringia (LEG) was highly praised by the convention participants.

After five years as president of the club, Michael Ehrler began in 2002 to look for someone to be his successor. Intensive discussions led to Mike Schuster (a member of the club since April 2001) agreeing to take over this position. Mike Schuster was co-opted into the board of directors and then unanimously elected the third president of the club in the general meeting on May 22, 2002. Since then, he has skillfully steered and led our DAG with his many connections to national and international politicians. He has also been president of the VDAC, the federation that we - as previously mentioned - joined in 1998.

A special event that went far beyond the usual scope of the DAG's activities was the photography exhibit of the American photographer Anthony Cesare from January 25 to February 7, 2002 in the ballroom of Erfurt's city hall. The DAG organized this exhibit, which was subsequently moved to Weimar and then sent back to the US. The photographer was born and raised near New York City and worked there for many years as a photographer and tour guide. He took many pictures that captured the ambiance of "his" city over the course of many years. The prominent buildings of Manhattan such as the World Trade Center towers were some of the main subjects of his photographs. The horrible events of September 11, 2001, and the opinions of his friends and family inspired him to create a project by compiling older photographs with more recent pictures of the site immediately after the destruction as well as with many personal documents. The photographer plans to complete the entire cycle with pictures of the new building complex to be built up on "Ground Zero" in order to tell the whole story.