On a fishing trip through Minnesota’s Lake of the Woods in 1960 an idea was born. Education professor Dr. Gerhard K. Haukebo and German language instructor Erhard Friedrichsmeyer began to discuss the idea of language camps for young children. After working at the Fargo Y.M.C.A. teaching classes to about 100 kids in a dark, overheated room, Dr. Friedrichsmeyer thought there had to be a better way to teach children. Dr. Haukebo shared how, while his family was living abroad, his children learned German quickly by playing with German-speaking children. The two professors spent the rest of their trip brainstorming ideas of what to do and how to effectively teach language to young people. Upon their return to civilization, Dr. (Gerry) Haukebo approached Concordia College administrators and they immediately accepted the proposal as a whole. The program commenced in 1961 with the first session at Camp Waldsee.
Dr. Friedrichsmeyer became the first dean of Waldsee, the German Language Village, and a source of many innovations that define the Language Villages experience today. He and his staff were the first to transform a camp into a cultural immersion experience. They made Waldsee look and feel like Germany with everything from signs and posters, to wearing Lederhosen and serving Wienerschnitzel. The activities they offered were culturally authentic and often new to the villagers. For example, many children were first introduced to soccer at Waldsee, as it was not widespread in the U.S. in the 1960s.
The idea for the distinctive curriculum came from Dr. Friedrichsmeyer and his staff as well, though he recalled that it was very challenging to develop. When he looks back, he remembers them brainstorming to devise activities that would make language interesting outside of the informal classes. On a visit to Waldsee this summer to pick up his grandchildren, Dr. Friedrichsmeyer observed that many of the curricular innovations he had dreamed up nearly a half century ago are still in place. He found it very gratifying and reassuring to see that they are still effective and that the excitement that he witnessed in the early days, “is still there today.”
After his work with Concordia Language Villages, then called Concordia College Language Camps, Professor Friedrichsmeyer went on to teach at the University of Minnesota and then later to the University of Cincinnati. However, he never lost his belief or connection to the program he had helped conceive. His children, grandchildren and nieces have all attended the Language Villages.
Dr. Friedrichsmeyer believes that the Language Villages experience is “the first step toward becoming world citizens. It helps [children] to develop a favorable attitude and aptitude towards foreign language and culture.” Thanks to the foundation he helped build, thousands of villagers, including his grandchildren, now call themselves global citizens and are eager to explore the wide world he hoped they would learn to appreciate as much as he does.
