The founding of the VDAZ

The Amerikazentrum Hamburg is a proud member of the Verbund Deutsch-Amerikanischer Zentren | Association of German-American Centers (VDAZ | AGAC)!

The VDAZ is a network of non-profit transatlantic educational and cultural centres. Its member institutions are open meeting places that foster exchange and understanding between the United States and Germany. The VDAZ brings together the many activities of these institutions and connects German-American understanding work across the country.

The formal founding ceremony took place on 21 September 2023 in the Weltsaal of the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.

The founding was opened with addresses by U.S. Ambassador Dr Amy Gutmann, State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office Dr Thomas Bagger and the Federal Government's Transatlantic Coordinator Michael Link. The chairs of the association, Viktoria Harbecke (AmerikaHaus NRW), Dr David Sirakov (Atlantische Akademie RLP) and Eric W. Fraunholz (DAI Sachsen), presented the wide-ranging work of the German-American centres and set out the aims of the VDAZ. The association not only creates nationwide visibility for the work of its member institutions, it also makes it easier for them to connect with one another.

Joshua Yaffa of The New Yorker, Bartley Grosserichter, President of the Yale Club Germany and founder of the Munich Dialogues on Democracy, and Anna Steinbrich, an alumna of the “Ambassadors in Sneakers” programme, shared their perspectives and experiences of working with the VDAZ. The German-American entertainer Gayle Tufts hosted the programme.

The founding of the VDAZ is not only a sign of the close cooperation between the various German-American centres and institutes, but also a commitment to the importance of transatlantic relations.