Kreis Neuss

Founded by: Dave McKinney, Peter Pabisch, Dieter Patt, Achim Thyssen and Ludwig Soumagne 1987

The first contact between the University of New Mexico (UNM) and Kreis Neuss, a county in the federal German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, was made in 1978 through literary research into German dialects. In the following year, at the invitation of Peter Pabisch, author Ludwig Soumagne taught at the German Summer School in Taos. At that time, Deputy County Governor, Dieter Patt, and his Secretary in charge of international connections, Achim Thyssen, visited for a short while. After several years and many smaller exchanges, it was decided in the fall of 1995 to expand the exchange to include cultural and sports programs. The cooperation between Kreis Neuss and UNM is multi-fold and includes the following programs:

German Literary Studies: Academic research in German literary studies between UNM and Internationales Mundartarchiv Ludwig Soumagne at Zons, Kreis Neuss, includes the work on the German encyclopedia, "Die Deutsche Literatur".

Coordinated by: Achim Thyssen, Peter Pabisch and Hans-Gert Roloff of the Freie Universität Berlin.

Annual Budget: Varies from year to year.

Athletic Exchange: A cultural and educational exchange with UNM´s Athletic Program and that of Kreis Neuss was realized in 1996 and 1997 through visits of the respective soccer teams. A video report of this exchange was made by retired Colonel Don Fischer from UNM's Media Technical Services.

Coordinated by: Dieter Patt, Peter Pabisch, Achim Thyssen, Klaus Weber, Fritz Kaser, Jürgen Steinmetz, et al.

Annual Budget: approximately $50,000

Private Exchanges: Many private initiatives in sports, business, and commerce have been discussed and initiated between the Cities of Albuquerque, NM; Rio Rancho, NM; Farmington, NM and Kreis Neuss. Those community groups seeking cooperation with the Atlantic Bridge on the Camino Real will be served through the Office of the ABCR.

Coordinated by: Peter Pabisch and Dieter Patt, et al. Assistant Coordinators: Fritz Kaser, Klaus Weber and Achim Thyssen

Annual Budget: Each program is self-funded.

Anticipated Programs: There are immediate future plans to expand participation between Kreis Neuss and UNM through the introduction of programs for technology, dual vocational education, fine arts and education as well as others academic areas.

Coordinated by: Peter Pabisch and Dieter Patt, et al. Project Coordinators: Frank Field, Klaus Weber and Achim Thyssen

Annual Budget: Various Grants and participant funding.