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Home > News & Events > CLA Today Archive > Summer 2003 : The German Connection

The German connection

by Mary Shafer

Growing up near Düsseldorf, Germany, during World War II, Hella Lindemeyer was the eldest of four children in an “interesting, thought-provoking, and music-filled household,” where she fine-tuned her intellect in stimulating discussions with her father, a historian and accomplished amateur pianist.

“Those years were formative to me,” she says. “Necessities like food and coal were scarce. Because of the constant bombing, school was suspended for a year.” Yet she did graduate—albeit belatedly—and went on to Newham College in Cambridge, England, and then to the University of Heidelberg, where she earned a degree in English and German literature.

After also receiving a diploma from drama school, she performed in leading roles as a “young heroine” on stages throughout Germany—in plays both classical and modern.

Life has changed dramatically for Hella Lindemeyer Mears Hueg since she arrived in Minnesota some decades ago. Yet she has never lost touch with the German heritage that she cherishes. And she still lives in her first American home, a gracious colonial now hidden behind full-grown elms and oaks on a hill in Mendota Heights, Minn.

Mears Hueg began her life here as a graduate student in American studies, learning about the “intricacies of American politics and culture.” With her husband, Norman B. Mears—a renowned inventor, industrialist, and philanthropist—she traveled extensively worldwide, taking frequent visits to Germany. The couple's travels left her little time for formal study, and so she left graduate school to become a student of the world.

“Life taught me all the things I didn't know in 1966,” she muses.

Acting on her passion for education and the arts, she soon began serving on the boards of such organizations as the Opera Guild, the Guthrie Theater, the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Over the years, she has continued to support these and other organizations with both service and philanthropic gifts. Meanwhile, she has maintained her deep ties to her first home, frequently visiting her German family and staying abreast of Germany's cultural and political life.

Following Norman Mears’ death, she met and married University professor emeritus William Hueg, who shared her love of the arts and also her commitment to education. Together, they have generously supported both passions.

These days, Mears Hueg is given to reflection—and “putting her house in order.” A few years back, she found herself asking, “What kind of legacy would I like to leave to express my love and appreciation for the two countries I call home?” Her answer grew out of her dual heritage—her German childhood and her American adulthood: She decided to endow the Hella Lindemeyer Mears Fellowship in German Studies.

The idea first took root when she met CLA dean Steven Rosenstone in Naples, Fla., where she and her husband were wintering. She decided to come to Minnesota for a visit—to see for herself the transformed campus that Rosenstone had described. She especially wanted to see how the German department was faring.

“With today's globalization,” she says, “I was concerned that Germany might not be considered important anymore.” To her immense delight, during a daylong visit with faculty and graduate students she learned that the U's program in German studies was thriving—indeed, was one of the nation's best.

Awarded for the first time this spring, the Hella Lindemeyer Mears Fellowship will provide a year of full support to graduate students who show outstanding promise as scholars and teachers of German literature and language. The award is intended to “free the student from extraneous obligations,” allowing full commitment to thesis work.

“I wanted to give something to Ph.D. candidates and at the same time take the seeds of education and nurture them in a meaningful way,” she says. “As we shaped the fellowship, my intent was that the language wouldn't die. To preserve it, you have to start with the young.”

And the younger, the better. Fellowship recipients are expected to commit a certain number of hours each week to working with high school students. “What I hope,” says Mears Hueg, “is that they not only will keep alive the literature and culture of Germany, through research and teaching, but also will awaken and foster enthusiasm for that in high school students.

“My deepest conviction is that the arts and education are important ways to create a civilized society. We must support arts and education to achieve that. This is not the pursuit of an elite, but it holds the promise for an enlightened and enriched community.”