_1332246759.jpg "Showcasing Higher Education - Germany and Australia")
ABIE Germany has a close relationship with the Australian Embassy in Berlin. Ambassador Peter Tesch extends his greetings to the visitors of the ABIE Germany website. 
ABIE GERMANY PRESENTS … Peter Dreher
On a recent trip to Melbourne, we had the chance to catch up with the President of our sister branch ABIE Australia, Peter Dreher, who was also a co-founder of ABIE Germany. An Australian commercial lawyer, Peter discussed with Nina Wende his experience with the development of German - Australian business ties and relations over the past 15 years.
Peter, you have developed very strong ties with 'all things German' over the years. Why Germany?
Once upon a time, a young woman from the Harz Mountains near Göttingen came as a tourist to Sydney and met a young student playing water polo for Monash University. A few years later, we moved to Germany, where we lived in Frankfurt for three and a half years before moving back to Melbourne, where we now live with our three children. 'All things German' remain an important part of our professional and social lives.
What was your first impression of Germany?
My first impression of Germany was derived from a brief backpacking interlude at the end of 1990 and beginning of 1991. Like most Australian visitors, I found Germany fascinating and culturally exciting. Spectacular too. At that time, die Wende had only occurred a couple of years before. The intrigue of Berlin (the frission of fascism and communism past); the stark contrast of eastern Germany and the inquisitive freshly released Ossis ("Sie kommen aus Australien? Wow. Haben Sie ein Kangaruh gesehen?" Well, yes I have - in fact I ride one to work. "Wahnsinn man!"); magnificent villages, towns and scenery; and those statutory experiences and experimentation with unique dishes and a diverse range of beverages (all of which must be sampled by law).
Yet, when I first moved to Germany in 1994 it was March, and nearing the end of winter. Germany at that time was quite grey - the buildings, the sky - even the clothes. Perhaps it was because I moved to Frankfurt, which at that time of the year is absent a bit of green. But when Spring came it occurred to me that even a town like Frankfurt (which in reality is the centre of the European financial universe; in the 1990s some 422 banks had an office in FFM - less today) is really quite an attractive and vibrant city. Indeed, I could easily move back there. Whilst I don't care much for Hessisch as a dialect or Handkase mit Musik (many establishments around FFM could do with a little less Musik of that variety), I do love Ebbelwoi and eventually understood why Goethe liked Gruene Soesse. And don't forget the Taunus region; quite beautiful indeed.
