America House (Cologne)
| America House Cologne | |
|---|---|
 Former America House, 1950s architectural style (listed), 2007 |
|
| Data | |
| place | Cologne |
| architect | Rudolf "Rolf" H. Schickmann |
| Client | city Cologne |
| Construction year | 1955 |
| Coordinates | 50 ° 56 '10.9 " N , 6 ° 56' 38.2" E |
The America House Cologne was until its closure in 2007 as America House a Cologne facility to maintain cultural exchange with the USA , the tenant and operator was the US Information Service USIS and most recently the US Consulate General. The Amerika Haus Nordrhein-Westfalen eV was founded in 2007 as a registered association, and since 2008 it has new rooms in the nearby Apostelnstrasse.
history
The house was built in 1955 on the site of the former Apostle High School , Apostle Monastery 13-15, which was located there, opposite the Church of St. Apostles . The architect was Rolf H. Schickmann; The city of Cologne was the client and owner. The building opened in June 1955. In the post-war period, it was primarily used for re- education and for conveying information and ideas from western, especially US, culture. Until September 2007, the tenant and operator was the US Information Agency , which was incorporated into the US State Department in 1999.
With its reference and information library, its lecture and cinema hall and its advice on exchanges with the USA, the cultural institute was one of the most important cultural institutions, especially in Cologne from the 1950s to 1970s, for 52 years. With the America House in Cologne , the last German of these 57 American houses around the world was closed in September 2007. As with most of the other America houses in Germany, this facility could also be continued in a different form. In 2007, the sponsoring association Amerikahaus eV was founded in Cologne , which with the help of membership fees and sponsors continues the work in Cologne, for the region and for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia . The building was taken over by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation , which provided the association with rooms in the house for another year.
Company members are, for example, the US companies Microsoft , UPS and Ford and the German companies Cologne / Bonn Airport , Boston Consulting Group and, as institutions, the city of Cologne and the US consulate general in Düsseldorf. There are also committed individuals and honorary members. Associations and institutions active in NRW can become associated members. A characteristic of the Amerika Haus NRW eV compared to other Amerika Haus associations, which are mostly financed through language courses and similar educational offers, is currently, among other things, the connection to personalities from the transatlantic consultancy and finance industry as well as sponsoring from this area. Rainer Minz from the Boston Consulting Group, Ralph Drouven from CMS Hasche Sigle and Hendrik Hollweg, Ernst & Young, have been on the board since autumn 2013 .
literature
- Sonja Schöttler: Functional eloquence. The Cologne America House and the cultural institutes of the United States of America in Germany. Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2011, ISBN 978-3-88462-313-8 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Uta Winterhager, Thomas Riehle: America House becomes Thyssen Foundation , in Bauwelt , issue of October 28, 2011
- ↑ America House Cologne 1955-2005 . Cologne 2005 ( PDF , 3.1 MB, accessed on July 5, 2019).
- ↑ Amerika Haus eV North Rhine-Westphalia: Team Amerika Haus eV NRW ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed October 25, 2013)
