Enlarge image L.A. City Chief of Protocol Elga Sharpe presents Consul General Drautz with a Certificate of Appreciation. (© Germany.info/Los Angeles) Consul General and Mrs. Wolfgang Drautz invited nearly 200 “friends” to a farewell reception on June 6. After three years in LA, his posting in the City of Angels is nearing an end.

“Allow me tonight to address you as “friends” and not the correct protocol title or other designation, for we have only invited “friends” - people who shared our life in Los Angeles the last three years, and to whom we would personally like to say goodbye, Auf Wiedersehen and thank you!, said Consul General Drautz.

Enlarge image Consul General Drautz presents Rita Reiff, President of the German American School Association, with a check for $67,099.41. (© Germany.info/Los Angeles) But before he came to the long list of friends, he still had a “good turn” to do, which is not only the leitmotif of the Boy Scouts but Consuls as well, he announced. He asked Rita Reiff, President of the German American School Association, to come forward, and with great pleasure, he presented her with a check for $ 67,099.41. It was one of the largest amounts he ever handed over, remarked the Consul General. The association receives an annual grant to foster the learning of the German language and give students the opportunity to receive a German Language Diploma so they can become eligible to study in Germany.

Then he began calling out the names of dignitaries and government officials, representatives of German-American businesses, science and cultural organizations, teachers and professors, members of Jewish organizations and the Jewish community, and countless others with whom he had worked closely with and gotten to know well over the course of his three-year tenure in Los Angeles, and thanked them all for their support and help. In particular, he said, he owed a great deal of gratitude to his family - his wife Sabine, and two daughters, Luisa and Paulina – for putting up with all the long hours and not seeing him as often as they would have liked.

Enlarge image Consul General Drautz introduced his successor, Dr. Bernd Fischer, German Ambassador in Croatia. (© Germany.info/Los Angeles) And before calling an end to the official business of the evening, Consul General Drautz had the great pleasure to introduce his successor, Dr. Bernd Fischer, who holds a doctorate in Philosophy from Heidelberg University, and is currently the German Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia in Zagreb. Consul General Drautz asked everyone to extend their assistance and friendship to him when he takes over as Consul General in early July.

Enlarge image Consul General Drautz thanks caterer Rhonda Dompierre for her wonderful service throughout his term. (© Germany.info/Los Angeles) For Consul General Drautz the evening and the leave-taking was packed with extra emotion - it would be the last time he would be saying goodbye in his capacity as a German diplomat. After 36 years in the Federal Foreign Office, he will retire at the end of the month and return to Germany, where he will settle with his wife and two daughters in Berlin. We wish them well!

To view more images of the reception, please view the album on our Facebook page