Author: Henriette J. Runte (Dr. J)
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Discovering India in Hamburg
It was at the recording of my live podcast episode on the role fashion and cuisine have played in diplomacy since the reign of Louis XIV that I met Soumya Gupta, then newly appointed Indian Consul General to Northern Germany, who had not long before arrived to Hamburg. The former…
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Two Highlights from 2025: Die Unsichtbaren (The Invisibles) and The Snow Queen
Two of the opera houses I have frequented most in recent years are the Hamburgische Staatsoper and the Semperoper Dresden. As we prepare to slide into 2026, and as I mentally survey the many performances I attended in 2025, concerts, ballets, operas, and theatre productions alike, two events continue to resurface as particularly…
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An Interview with Artist MARIE DE VILLEPIN at the Galerie Melbye-Konan
Marie de Villepin’s work is in permanent va-et-vient, oscillating between the angelic, the spiritual, the delicate, and, on the opposite pole, the demonic, the brutally real, and the rough and chaotic. Whether as a model for Givenchy, or as a musician with the band PINKMIST, or yet again, as a…
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Music Nights by Gurvitch
My impressions from last night’s musical salon, organized and hosted by Irina Gurvitch, featuring the composer and pianist Leon Gurvitch and the very talented, young jazz singer Alexandra Rotmann: Starting with the reign of Louis XIV and marked by writers and philosophers like Rousseau, Voltaire, Kant, or Goethe, the Age…
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Jumelage Open Air
SOMETIMES WE ARE FILLED WITH HOPE: This weekend, I had the privilege to MC the celebrations to the 70th year of partnership and twinning for the cities of Schwarzenbek, Sierre, Cesenatico, Aubenas and Zelzate. This celebration was a breath of fresh air in today’s turbulent times. True sharing and friendship,…
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Maestro Matthias Pintscher and the Kansas City Symphony in Hamburg
From the Heart of the Midwest into the Heart of the Hansestadt Hamburg! It was an honor to accompany several members of the diplomatic corps of Hamburg and Northern Germany to the performance of the Kansas City Symphony at the Elbphilharmonie last night. The French Consul General Valérie Lübken, the…
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Bastille Day in Hamburg
The diplomatic community in Hamburg has embraced me over the past few years and has supported me, not only in my cultural endeavors but also in my personal search for belonging and cultural identity. As an expat and a TCK, I belong to several cultures and tremendously enjoy the rich…
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Celebrating US Independence Day with the US Consulate General in Hamburg!
US Consul General Jason Chue delivered an emotional speech that looked back on his 3-year diplomatic term in Northern Germany. He reflected on the central common values that unite the USA and Germany and emphasized the significance of transatlantic friendship and cooperation. This was Jason Chue‘s last speech as US…
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