Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: News

Students from the German Fair perform several pieces of music for residents of the United States.

This year's German Fair was more than just a celebration of culture, language, and music for Lakeland College. It has laid the foundation for a lasting relationship by connecting two schools with a common alumnus.

The main aim of Lakeland's German Fair is to bring LC German learners together with native German speakers in hopes of sparking enthusiasm for learning the language.

Serving as an SAP project for LC students, it also helps recruit potential German majors from local high schools.

Last year's inaugural German Fair was host to around 50 students from Germany who helped with the production of the musical Till Eulenspiegel. This year, April 8 marked the second annual Lakeland College German Fair, headlined by the Orchester der Edertalschule, (Eder Valley School Orchestra) from Frankenberg, Germany.

Comprised solely of high school students, the orchestra travels to perform in various venues globally. Until connecting with Lakeland College, however, Orchester der Edertalschule had never been to the United States.

The history of Lakeland's connection dates back to pre-World War II Germany, when the late, former Lakeland College professor Rev. Dr. Reinhard Ulrich was a boy.

Reinhard was attending high school at Edertalschule when WWII broke out. During the war, Reinhard was in charge of a program that collected and delivered care packages to allied soldiers through Liebfrauenkirche (The Church of the Virgin) in Frankenberg.

From his work with a church in Colby, Wis. Reinhard established a relationship with a minister here in the States. When the war ended, Reinhard was unable to get into college in Germany due to the influx of veterans seeking a higher education.

Reinhard's contact in America helped him get accepted into the seminary school here at Lakeland which, at the time, was still Mission House. After doing his undergraduate work, he moved to Chicago for graduate school. He spent nine years there as a student/minister, earning his masters and then his doctorate.

In 1964 Reinhard rejoined the Lakeland community, this time as faculty where he stayed until his retirement in 2001. On January 10, 2007, Rev. Dr. Reinhard Ulrich passed away. After Reinhard's death, his son, our very own Dr. Martin Ulrich, made a pilgrimage of sorts to Frankenberg to visit one of his father's childhood friends, Wolfgang Ochse.

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