German-US-American Youth Exchanges – USA-Special 2022
Senator William J. Fulbright’s words on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his legendary exchange program still hold true today. A mutual understanding of cultures is at the heart of any successful exchange program, and personal relationships are its backbone. Exchanges create lasting links between countries, and exchanges between Germany and the United States, which are among the most extensive and diverse, have played a key role in the history of transatlantic relations.
Berlin, 1962: American exchange students at Checkpoint Charlie.
How it came about Modern day German-US-American exchange programs developed in the aftermath of two devastating world wars and were integral to the foundation of lasting peace. Shortly after World War I, US-American organizations introduced short-term programs to encour- age young US-Americans to travel abroad and visit Germany. These programs continued to run during World War II. The greatest chal- lenge, however, was finding reliable forms of transport between the US and Europe. Para- doxically, some participants wanting to bene- fit from the peace-keeping potential of these exchange programs crossed the Atlantic on ships used to transport troops. In his third inaugural address in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt stressed the importance of cross-cultural understanding. He described
a future in which personal diplomacy would be central and the role of individual men and women in maintaining security and peace would be a hallmark of post-war US-American foreign policy: “A Nation, like a person, has a mind – a mind that must be kept informed and alert, that must know itself, that understands the hopes and the needs of its neighbors […].” It is not surprising that the United States saw the strategic importance of mutual under- standing as an important component of an ideal foreign policy for the post-war world. Just one month after the end of the war, the Surplus Property Act of 1944 was amended at the initiative of Senator Fulbright, allowing proceeds from the sale of surplus war proper- ty to be used to promote international good- will through student exchanges. In 1945, he laid the foundation for the exchange program that bears his name: the Fulbright Program . In
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