The Mark Twain Center for Transatlantic Relations

https://www.heidelberg.de/MTC/home.html

One of the most exciting urban development projects in Heidelberg is the conversion of formerly US properties into uses for local citizens and businesses.  The US Mark Twain Village housing area is being reconstructed into a new residential/commercial neighborhood, retaining the name to highlight the neighborhood's importance in the postwar period.  The project is huge -- both in physical size and outreach. It is a critical step for the history of Heidelberg, as well as for the history, both public and personal, of the post-WWII American military and civilian presence in Europe.

The city planners’ goal is to develop this once alienating complex (whether occupied by the Nazis or the Americans) into a welcoming cultural, residential, commercial and recreational center for Heidelberg. The Mark Twain Center is a pivotal part of that plan.

Located in the former Keyes building that first housed the Nazi officers’ mess and later, greatly enlarged, became the U.S. military command center, “The Mark Twain Center for Transatlantic Relations” is already hosting exhibits and guided tours.  In the future, it plans to host a variety of local, regional and international events.

OMA’s Ron Rasch has already been collaborating from the Army’s standpoint with the Center and Larry Arnoldy has been representing OMA as a liaison.  Dr. Uwe Wenzel is very open to UMGC’s involvement in the center and of course there are already plans afoot to supply the MTC with materials, artifacts, photos and contacts to help tell the story that was a part of so many of our lives. You’ll be hearing a lot about this in the future.

By dint of some level of higher intervention, UMGC’s new president Dr. Gregory Fowler’s dissertation “Mark Twain, A Muse for Generation X” fits right into the discussion.