Consul General Dr.
Stocks presented Leopold Mayer with the
Cross of the Order of Merit of the
Federal Republic of Germany on Tuesday,
February 13, 2007 . Mr. Mayer, was
awarded the Cross by German President
Horst Koehler, in recognition of his
more than 40 years of dedication to
retaining and promoting the Danube
Swabian culture locally in Southern
California as well as on the national
level.
Leopold Mayer was
born on June 1, 1939 in Franztal, in the
former Yugoslavia . In 1944, at the age
of 5, he and his family had to flee his
native town. They first settled in
Austria and spent ten years there. Then
the family immigrated to the United
States , settling in California . After
finishing college, Mr. Mayer started his
career as an electrician with IBM.
His first
involvement with the various Danube
Swabian organizations was as a soccer
player in 1964. A short three years
later, he took on more responsibility as
a representative and secretary of the
organization “Danubia”. Leopold
Mayer went on to become a board member
of the Danube Swabian dance group. Under
his presidency from 1987 – 1997, the
dance group grew to become quite
successful. Since 1997, he has been
serving as President of the Danube
Swabian Association of Southern
California and since 1999 to the
present, the President of the Danube
Swabian Association on the national
level for all of the United States .
Under his tutelage
as president, the different sectors of
the Los Angeles Danube Swabian dance
group have grown impressively in numbers
with dancers ranging from the very young
to adult level. With performing their
folk dances, the dance groups keep their
ancestors’ customs and traditions
alive while at the same time passing
them on to the next generation.
Leopold Mayer has
not only dedicated his life to keeping
the Danube Swabian traditions alive, but
also to fostering international
awareness and understanding. To further
these goals, he has travelled to many
countries such as Germany , Austria ,
and Hungary . In meeting with
representatives of the Hungarian
Government, he helped to facilitate
dialogue between the officials and the
ethnic group of Danube Swabians residing
there. In 2000, he took part in talks
with government officials of
Serbia/Montenegro to build new bridges
of understanding, resulting in the
establishment of German kindergartens.
|