Memorial Stele in Honour of Mildred Harnack-Fish

Two “sister” steles at Justus Liebig University Giessen (left) and in Madison / Wisconsin, US, (right) commemorate the American-born resistance fighter and JLU alumna Mildred Harnack-Fish. The first obelisk was inaugurated in July 2019 in Madison’s Marshall Park during a visit from Hessen's Minister President Volker Bouffier; at the end of September 2020, its sister stele was erected in front of the Philosophikum building on Alten Steinbacher Weg in Giessen.

On September 15 2021 the Memorial stele in honour of Mildred Harnack-Fish was officially inaugurated at JLU. The ceremony took place at the Campus for Cultural Studies and Humanities during the 45th anniversary year of the Hesse and Wisconsin partnership and was sponsored by the Hessen State Chancellery.

The official programme of the ceremony included speeches and greetings as well as many meaningful contributions from Prof. Dr. Verena Dolle, First Vice President of JLU; Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus, Minister for Digital Strategy and Chairwoman of the Friendship Association Hessen-Wisconsin; Tony Evers and Melissa Hughes, Governor of the State of Wisconsin and State Secretary/CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, respectively; Tommy G. Thompson, Interim President of the University of Wisconsin System; Dietlin Grabe-Bolz, Mayor of the City of Giessen; Rebecca Blank, Chancellor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Prof. Dr. Greta Olson, Executive Director of the English Department at JLU and Professor Nick Schweitzer from the University of Madison Law School. Please click here to see the programme.

The ceremony was broadcasted live worldwide. Around 40 people participated live in Giessen and about the same number of virtual guests followed the ceremony live virtually. Since the day of the ceremony, more than 600 viewers have accessed the recording available at JLU’s YouTube channel. We cordially invite you to watch the ceremony too: