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Three men revered as longtime pillars of the German community in Atlanta were honored by the German-American Cultural Foundation with lifetime awards for their business and cultural contributions Monday.
The honorees included Miller & Martin PLLC attorney Tom Harrold, a pioneer in Atlanta’s global business endeavors starting in the 1970s; Peter Halpaus, the founder and chair of International Freight Forwarders Inc.; and Martin Richenhagen, the recently retired chairman, CEO and president of AGCO Corp., the Duluth-based Fortune 500 tractor and agricultural equipment manufacturer.
During a private dinner at the residence of the late Coca-Cola International President Claus M. Halle, namesake of the Halle Foundation, the three were designated honorary board members of the GAC-Foundation, which supports efforts to boost language and cultural exchange as a means to growing understanding between Americans and Germans.
Their achievements were each reviewed by a friend or colleague from the board during the ceremony, which drew representatives from many German community organizations, including the German-American Chamber of Commerce, the German School of Atlanta and the Goethe-Zentrum. New German Consul General Melanie Moltmann was also in attendance.
View a short video of the event:
Peter Halpaus, Honorary Board Member
United Soft Plastics Inc. founder and foundation board member Rudi Herbst reviewed Mr. Halpaus’s transatlantic journey from his birthplace in Bremen to the Southeast U.S. starting in the 1977.
Mr. Halpaus first landed in Charlotte, N.C., where he worked for a large logistics company. He moved with his family to Atlanta 1980 and later started his own firm, IFF, and served stints on the boards of the German church, chamber and school in Atlanta. In 1996, Mr. Halpaus became the official leader of the delegation for the German Olympic team during the summer Olympic Games. He received the order of merit from the German government in 2014.
More recently, Mr. Halpaus was part of the team organizing the inaugural Atlanta Christkindl Market in 2016, helping introduce the quaint, town-square Christmas markets of Germany, complete with wooden booths, handicrafts and German food, to the Southeast U.S. The concept quickly became a hit among local Atlantans and visitors alike. Halted by COVID-19 last year, the Christkindl market returns this year starting Nov. 26 at Buckhead Village at 3145 Peachtree Road.
Martin Richenhagen, Honorary Chairman
Mr. Richenhagen, the recently retired AGCO Corp. CEO, was introduced by Josip Tomasevic, the company’s senior vice president and chief purchasing officer, who also chairs the board of the German-American Cultural Foundation.
Mr. Tomasevic joined the GAC-F board in 2014, when Mr. Richenhagen informed him that he would be taking over AGCO’s representation.
“To be honest I didn’t know much about the foundation back then. Today, I can say that it’s beyond enriching serving alongside our great GAC-F board members. Not only has it changed my life. But most of all, we have been able to improve the lives of many people,” Mr. Tomasevic said.
Mr. Richenhagen, who was named honorary chairman at the dinner, has changed many lives through his devotion to leadership coaching and truly listening to and learning about people, Mr. Tomasevic said, going on to share other tidbits about the man who led AGCO through a period of global growth.
A passionate equestrian enthusiast, Mr. Richenhagen coached the German dressage team to a gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.
“I remember being totally impressed about such an achievement that my curiosity grew to meet this guy, sometime in the future,” Mr. Tomasevic said about his admiration for the executive, even while working at a competing company.
Mr. Richenhagen was knighted by the French government in 2018 and in April he published his most recent book, “Der Amerika-Flüsterer” — or “The America Whisperer” —a memoir describing how he started as a religion teacher in Germany and ended one of the U.S.’s top corporate managers.
In the book, Mr. Tomasevic said, Mr. Richenhagen makes a passionate case for German-American friendship based on mutual admiration and respect — a concept he felt necessary to underscore as the transatlantic relationship began to deteriorate under President Trump. Importantly, the GAC-F makes an appearance on page 278, Mr. Tomasevic said, holding up his hardback copy.
Tom Harrold, Honorary Board Member
It was Eike Jordan, chair of the board of trustees of the Halle Foundation, who made the presentation to Mr. Harrold, the Miller & Martin partner.
As a young attorney pursuing international opportunities while remaining well connected at home, Mr. Harrold was an early supporter and board member of the German-American Chamber of Commerce, which Mr. Jordan came to Atlanta to start up in 1978. The men became fast friends and have remained so for more than four decades.
“We initiated the first job in American Business Conference in Atlanta for lawyers, CPAs, advisors and investors, with close to 100 participants who came from Germany in the 1980s; almost half of them continue to do business in the Southeast,” Mr. Jordan said.
Years later in 2003, Mr. Harrold organized a German-American Unification Summit in Atlanta that drew former President George H.W. Bush, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and former Chancellor Helmut Kohl to Atlanta. The event attracted more than 2,000 people and was covered by 18 global news stations. In 2009, Mr. Harrold managed to have original aircraft from the Berlin Airlift on display for a 60th anniversary celebration, also held in Atlanta in 2009.
“Tom’s profound knowledge of world history and his ability to understand cultural differences make him an ideal international ambassador for Georgia and the Southeast, and a great representative of the United States,” Mr. Jordan said.
“His inside knowledge of the political scene, his understanding of international events and his sense of cultural differences result in priceless advice on a professional and friendship level. I can pick any of the last 43 years, and you won’t find one where Tom did not generously give of his time experience, expertise — and his law firm’s and his own money — as well as an abundance of great ideas to the German American cause. All of us were the beneficiaries, me personally, probably more than anybody else.”
Learn more about the German-American Cultural Foundation at http://www.gac-foundation.org.
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