CG Wolfgang Drautz, Dr. Robert Koetting Honored at GAHS Banquet

St. Louis – This year's recipient of the 2008 Friedrich Hecker Freedom Award was the German Consul General from Chicago, Wolfgang Drautz. He was honored in front of almost 90 members and guests at the 18th Annual German American Heritage Society (GAHS) of Saint Louis Diplomatic Reception & Dinner on Saturday, March 8 at The Racquet Club - St. Louis on Kingshighway. The evening’s hostess was GAHS VP Events, Isabelle Coovert.

Left: Award recipient, Consul General Wolfgang Drautz

The award is presented each year to an outstanding individual who has worked for the promulgation of cooperation and understanding between Germany and the United States .

Even though Consul General Drautz’s jurisdiction covers 13 central and upper Midwest states, St. Louis has been fortunate to have his active participation in many area German-American events since his appointment in September 2005. After being in office only ten days, Drautz made his first St. Louis visit to attend the German American Heritage Society’s 2005 “Taste of Germany” Benefit Dinner & Auction.

Since then, he has also dedicated a German immigrant statue in New Melle; paid an official visit to Missouri ’s Governor; actively participated in the first of ten annual “German Days” at the SEM; and just recently, he was the keynote speaker at the St. Louis convention of the Model United Nations, as well as addressed students at Soldan International Studies High School .

After serving as both a lawyer and a judge early in his professional life, Drautz joined the German foreign service in 1976 and has held many interesting posts at German Embassies, including twice in Moscow (1980 and 1994), and later in London (1998). As his first posting in the United States in 1984, Drautz has served as the Deputy Consul General in Atlanta . In 1989, he was appointed as Germany ’s Permanent Representative to NATO in Brussels . Throughout his career, he has served on a variety of key Federal Foreign Office desks in Bonn and Berlin , including as the Head of the Department for Consular Assistance before arriving in his present Chicago post as Consul General.

Also recognized at the event with the GAHS Founders Award for, “special service to German American friendship”, was Dr. Robert A. Koetting. In addition to being a GAHS Charter member for 18 years and a member of the GAHS board of directors, Dr. Koetting has also served as an officer and board member of the St. Louis – Stuttgart Sister Cities organization. He will be helping this group celebrate its 50^th anniversary in 2010. Dr. Koetting’s continued, enthusiastic support of many German-American (and a few French-American) events over the past two decades has been exceptional and sincerely appreciated.

Above: GAHS Founder Award Recipient, Dr. Robert Koetting, and presenter Lou Stemmler

Professionally, Dr. Koetting is a visionary in the world of Optometry, pioneering the use of contact lenses. In 1999 he was honored with the American Optometry Association’s Distinguished Service Award and was named one of the “Top O. D.’s of the Decade,” as well as the “Most Influential Optometry Doctor in Practice Management in the 20^th Century.” Dr. Koetting authored four books, including Marketing and Managing of Contact Lenses (Butterworth's).

He's the only person to chair the American Optometry Association’s Contact Lens Section and the American Academy of Optometry's Contact Lens Section simultaneously.

Special guests at the black-tie event included: the German American National Congress (DANK) national president emeritus, Ernst Ott and his wife, Alexandra; the new president of the German American National Congress in Chicago, Bill Fuchs and his wife Darlene; representing St. Louis County Executive, Charlie Dooley was Joanne Gladney, who honored Dr. Koetting with a special letter; our honorary German consul emeritus, Anna Mayer Beck and her husband Walt; four members of the Polish American Cultural Society of St. Louis including their president, Robert Szydlowski, and immediate past-president, Marianne Szydlowski.

Other special quests included: former Maplewood Mayor, the retired president of the German American Committee and the Bavarian Benevolent Society, the Honorable Josef Hammes; the president of both the German American Committee and German Cultural Society, as well as a Freedom Award honoree, John Pappert; the president of the St. Louis – Stuttgart Sister Cities and GAHS Board member, Susanne Evens, along with past presidents Joe Worzer, as well as Wilma Prifti who is also a GAHS Board member; and GAHS VP Membership Roy Leimberg, who was the 2007 Freedom Award recipient.

Also attending was Dr. Hamid Azimiaraghi and his charming daughter, Gabriela. Dr Azimiaraghi recently hosted the 48^th annual Midwest Model United Nations conference in St. Louis that was attended by college students from 55 mid-west colleges and universities. He also hosted the Soldan International Studies Summit for high school students. Consul General Drautz spoke at both events.

Above: Dr. Hamid Azimiaraghi, daughter Gabriela, Consul General Wolfgang Drautz.

Other special guests were: St. Louis Strassenfest, Lou Mueller, as well as past president Michael Wendl; German Professor and Coordinator of the University of Missouri-St. Louis German Culture Center, Larry Marsh; former Freedom Award honoree, University of Missouri professor, accomplished author  and recently…the Fulbright Distinguished Chair of Cultural Studies at the University of GANZ in Austria, Dr. Steven Rowan.

  Below: GAHS new members, James Key and Mike Moore with GAHS VP Membership, Roy Leimberg

At the event, our two newest GAHS members, James Key and Mike Moore, officially received their membership pins from VP Membership and 2007 Freedom Award recipient, Roy E. Leimberg.

Retiring board members, Tom George, Don Middendorf and Dr. Robert Koetting, were officially recognized for their years of dedicated, active service.

As required by the by-laws, as slate of new board members, who serve rotating three-year terms, was presented to the general membership for approval by VP Legal Affairs and Nominating Committee Chair, Hermann Eisele, Esq. The newest board member was John Wittenberg.

Through its annual donations, the GAHS also helps support the UMSL German Culture Center , the UMSL and Webster University Student Studies Abroad Programs, the Deustchheim Verein in Hermann , Missouri as well as other designated area organizations and programs dedicated to preserving German heritage. The GAHS invited members with a heritage from a German speaking country (Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Alsace-Lorraine), as well as companies founded by German immigrants, owned by people of German heritage, or companies with business relationships with Germany and the United States of America.

The GAHS is actively involved in exploring and preserving German heritage with other German American organizations in the St. Louis region, the state of Missouri , the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Germany.

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For more information on the German American Heritage Society, please contact Carolyn Humphries at (314) 862 - 1733.

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