Opportunities after Cold War

Former East

German woman

teaches in SE

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- Ulricke Mueller still remembers as a second-grader, how her father viewed the free world and his slim chances of ever getting there just before the Berlin Wall came down and the Cold War ended in 1990.

Her father was once imprisoned for trying to flee East Germany. The family was "watched" by government officials because the children didn't attend all political doctrine training about being loyal to the Communist party and its leaders.

"Dad said he was more likely to visit the moon than ever get out of East Germany," Mueller said.

As a small girl, she had no dolls and didn't watch television, but admitted she had a relatively happy childhood, playing with makeshift toys with her siblings.

Since those days, many doors have opened for the Mueller family. Her parents have visited the United States. Her sister now lives in Norway.

Mueller, who taught area children at the World Language Camp in the Palace Cultural Center in Sleepy Eye June 7-18, spent her early childhood days in Werneuchen, East Germany, a small town founded in 1245 located about 30 minutes from the wall in downtown Berlin.

The end of the 96-mile barbed wire barricade and concrete wall with an average height of about 12 feet opened a whole new life for her.

Mueller became a foreign exchange student and attended Unity Christian High School in Orange City, Iowa. After graduation, she returned to Germany for two years of university prep school before attending Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, like many Unity Christian graduates.

She will teach Spanish at Washington High School in Sioux Falls, S.D. this fall. Mueller averaged 21 credits per semester and graduated from college in three years, so most of her college friends are seniors this year.

The teaching job in Sioux Falls will enable her to stay close to her former classmates for a while. She also wanted to work in the Midwest and considered Sioux Falls a desirable place to live and work.

Mueller wound up in Sleepy Eye in a rather round about way. She was doing another one of her favorite things, line dancing in Worthington, when she met Jeff Heldt of Butterfield. Heldt means "hero" in German.

"I guess you could say he is my hero," Mueller said.

The meeting with her boyfriend led to her getting the summer job in Sleepy Eye.

Mueller said students from Sleepy Eye, New Ulm, Morgan, Franklin, Fairfax and St. James were eager to learn about German culture. She used a video to describe the former Berlin Wall and other aspects of life in Germany like its architecture, dancing and food.

"I enjoy making new friends and learning about the culture here," Mueller said.

She and her boyfriend recently visited New Ulm briefly. Dinner at the Kaiserhoff with its German food and ambience reminded her of home.

"I enjoyed seeing the architecture in New Ulm, which is so German," Mueller said.