"On April 1, Consul General Herbert Quelle presented Dr. Joachim “Yogi” Reppmann with the German American Friendship Award during the Euro-Atlantic Conference "The Legacy of 1848, Through Today" in Northfield, MN. The conference, co-sponsored by the German Consulate General, was organized by Reppmann and was the most recent of a lifetime of contributions to German-American relations.
Since his first visit to the United States as a college student in 1978, Reppmann, a historian, has focused his scholarship primarily on the role and legacy of the “Forty-Eighters” from his native Schleswig-Holstein. These German immigrants supported the democratic revolutions of 1848 in German states. Through his scholarship, he has uncovered the bonds that unite Germans and Americans and demonstrated the depth and breadth of the German influence on American life. He has also made important contributions in linguistic research and in facilitating German-Jewish dialogue.
The German-American Friendship Award, established in 1981, is given by the German Ambassador to those who have shown extraordinary commitment to fostering German-American relations."
Source:http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/__pr/GKs/CHIC/2017/04/01__GAFA__Reppmann.html
"German Consul General, Herbert Quelle (Chicago) presented conference co-organizer Dr. Joachim “Yogi” Reppmann with the German-American Friendship Award of the Federal Republic of Germany for his contributions to German-American relations. As Yogi’s friend, I was particularly glad to see him honored in this way. It’s long been my view that his outsized personality has often obscured the many real and tangible contributions he’s made not only in the historical field, but also in the establishment of bridges furthering contact between and understanding of peoples on both sides of the Atlantic." — Scott C. Christiansen, Iowa City