For the first time, an exhibition of Library materials traveled to Germany, opening Sept. 28.
The Bremen Kunsthalle, the city's leading art museum, hosted the opening of the Johann Georg Kohl exhibition, which had originally been on display at the Library of Congress from March 23 through June 27.
Approximately 100 guests attended the opening reception. That morning, Professor Hans-Albrecht Koch, director of the Bremen State and University Library, and Margrit B. Krewson, German/Dutch area specialist in the Library of Congress European Division, were interviewed on German National Radio. Other LC representatives were Ronald Grim, head of the Geography and Map Division Reading Room, and Gene Roberts, exhibit coordinator and program specialist in the Interpretive Programs Office.
This exhibition, which is almost identical to that mounted at the Library of Congress, was enlarged with several items from the Bremen State and University Library's Kohl Collection in order to highlight Kohl's interest in Eastern Europe.
"Johann Georg Kohl -- Auf den Spuren der Entdecker," was on view in the Kunsthalle until Nov. 7, 1993.
Johann Georg Kohl (1808-1878) was a world traveler, geographer, cartographer, historian, librarian, and German savant, who spent 3 1/2 years (1854-1858) in America studying the cartographic evidence documenting North America since the time of Columbus. Born April 28, 1808, Kohl was the son of a prominent Bremen wine merchant. He was noteworthy for his visionary approach to theoretical geography. After his sojourn in North America he returned to Bremen, where he served as director of the city library until his death in 1878.
Ms. Krewson thanked the German sponsors for their cooperation in the preparation of the exhibition, especially Professor Werner Weidenfeld, coordinator for German-American Affairs at the German Foreign Office; Minister Fritjof von Nordenskjoeld, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany; and Dr. Koch.
The opening of the Bremen exhibition was sponsored by the Theodor-Spitta Society, which is named in memory of the mayor of Bremen who framed the city's democratic constitution. The Spitta Society is headed by Karsten Bahnson and Klaus Wencke.
Dr. Bahnson stressed the close ties between Bremen and the United States and thanked not only the Library but also the United States, for this gesture of goodwill.
David L. Arnett, deputy public affairs officer at the U.S. Information Service, represented the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Germany, Richard Holbrooke.
Klaus Maurice, secretary-general of the Cultural Foundation of the German States in Berlin, focused in his speech on the cooperation of federal and state agencies together with private initiatives.
The Cultural Foundation of the German States was the major sponsor of this project and the scholarly catalog, Johann Georg Kohl: Progress of Discovery, which accompanied the exhibit and was edited by Dr. Koch, Ms. Krewson and John A. Wolter, former chief of LC's Geography and Map Division.
On Oct. 28, 1993, the anniversary of Kohl's death, a memorial plaque was mounted in downtown Bremen on the wall of the Karstadt Department Store which now occupies the site of Kohl's birthplace.
The Kohl exhibition was also shown on German National Television.