Interview with Mr. David Murdoch

Dear David, our congratulations to this honour.

Thank you for the congratulations. I was very surprised by the announcement of the award. I was not expecting it. I obviously did not ever think that I would receive an award for doing something I have loved doing throughout my lifetime,---namely meeting and working with as many people as I could in Germany and in America on better and stronger German-American relationships. I am deeply honored and humbled by the award.

Mr. Murdoch, why did you choose Germany specifically as a host country? How did you become aware of Experiment?

I first visited Germany when I was 15 years of age in 1957. I had attended the 50th anniversary celebration of Scouting in England and then traveled with other Boy Scouts to Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland and France. In Germany, I was very much impressed by the Wirtschaftswunder of Chancellor Ludwig Erhard and the recovery of Germany as a free society after the devastation of the war. I wanted to learn more about Germany as a result of that trip. I took German language classes for four years in High School. I studied German history and watched current events closely as Cold War tensions developed between the East and the West, especially in Berlin in the late 1950s and into the early 1960s.

I thought I might become a US Foreign Service Officer or a lawyer (or both) when I went to Harvard University for my undergraduate degree. In my freshman year there, one of my advisors recommended that I look into the U.S. Experiment in International Living, a program that was offered in the late 1950s and 1960s to college students rather than to high school students as it is now. The program was also for 8 or 9 weeks during the summer in various countries, including Germany, which was then quite popular. Four Experiment groups traveled to Germany during the summer of 1961. I obtained a small scholarship of $400 (when the program only cost $1,200) and worked in various jobs at college to find enough money to join one of those groups. I thought the trip and the experience would help me decide whether I should try to start a career with the U.S. Foreign Service or become a lawyer.

Is there a special event or occasion that you enjoy recollecting?

I was extremely fortunate to have the family of Werner and Evi Gilles in Mannheim-Feudenheim as my host Experiment family in the summer of 1961. Werner Gilles was the cultural editor of the Mannheimer Morgen newspaper. Evi Gilles sparked my intellectual, spiritual, cultural and political interests in Germany. She still lives in Mannheim-Feudenheim. Their four children are very dear friends of mine to this day: Dr. Michael Obladen in Freiburg im Breisgau (Son of Evi Gilles by her first marriage); Christiane Gilles Pfeifer, who lives in Berlin with her husband, Dr. Jochen Pfeifer (Direktor of the John Lennon Gymnasium); Stephan Gilles, who lives with his wife Verena in Mannheim-Feudenheim; and Werner Gilles, who lives with his wife Maria in Eppelheim. I also have the great pleasure of knowing Evi's 12 grandchildren, some of whom are now married with children. Finally, I knew the parents of Evi Gilles, Mr. and Mrs. August (and Elisabeth) Knodt, who lived in Wurzburg. Mrs. Knodt told me stories about her grandparents who lived during the times of Napoleon. Thus I have experienced much personally about Germany, its history, culture and life, through five generations in this one family.

Is there a certain event or occasion you prefer not to remember…?

The most difficult and adverse experience, in retrospect, has become the most important and made the greatest impression in my life. I traveled in late August 1961 with our Mannheim Experiment Group of 10 American students, and with three other Experiment groups, to Berlin. There we were able, as American citizens, to walk past the Volkspolizei (after showing our U.S. passports) through the concrete block and barbed wire to the East side of the newly constructed Berlin Wall. There we met and talked with East Berliners who were in a state of shock that their government would build a wall to prevent them from leaving and from working or traveling in West Berlin. I met students and teachers at Humboldt University who were deeply saddened and frightened by the building of the Berlin Wall. I came to realize, in a very personal way, the importance of freedom of speech, travel and assembly.

Did the experience of the intercultural exchange have an impact on your future?

The Experiment experience in Germany in 1961 changed the course and direction of my life, both professionally and personally. Although I never entered the U.S. Foreign Service, I maintained a keen interest in international affairs and in the importance of intercultural competence. I became a lawyer, served as an officer in the US Army in Kaiserslautern, Germany (between June 1968 and early January 1971), and returned to private law practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I never lost my deep interest in Germany, both personally and in its vital role throughout the Cold War. I rejoiced when the Wall I had experienced so forcefully and adversely in 1961 came down on November 9, 1989 and freed so many people without a war. I viewed that as a miracle. I traveled to Berlin with my first daughter, Christina, in 1991, as it was becoming the capital of a reunited Germany. We visited with Michael Obladen and Christiane Gilles Pfeifer and their families. I began to understand, in retrospect, the true importance and meaning of the 1961 experience of the Berlin Wall in my life. Since 1991, I have traveled far more frequently to Berlin and Germany. Now my law firm has offices in Berlin and Frankfurt, so professionally and personally, my life has come "full circle." I am very happy that my first impressions of Germany in 1957 and 1961 have been fulfilled in a most positive way by the growth and development of a free and democratic society throughout Germany. It has been a joy for me to experience that German history through the eyes of an American. My personal experience with Germany has helped me reflect on our experience in America, and understand it better, as we too face the challenges of a free society in the world.

What advice would you give current Experimenters?

My generation grew up with national borders when travel, even between France and Germany or between Germany and Switzerland, required passports. It was difficult to travel between what was known as Eastern and Western Europe. Today's generation of Experimenters, especially within the European Union and throughout the free world, have the wonderful opportunity to see and learn about many different lands and cultures without difficult travel restrictions. Today's Experimenters can address global challenges, like human rights, climate change and environmental protection without borders. Even in the more difficult geographic areas of the world, Experimenters can learn about underdeveloped countries and how to build civil society. They can learn about the challenges of different cultures so that they can traverse the world as a place of awe, inspiration, and challenge, where life will take on new and deep meaning. I welcome all new Experimenters to this wonderful world of experiential, international education that will shape their life uniquely.

More  details and a video of the ceremony are published on http://www.worldaffairspittsburgh.org/.

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