Although Germany is among Israel's major allies today, formal diplomatic relations between the two countries were hard-won. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, efforts to establish ties were buffeted by deep distrust as well as threats by the Arab League to align with East Germany if Bonn opened channels with Tel Aviv. Not until 1965, a generation after the end of World War II, could the two nations reach agreement to exchange ambassadors.

That contentious road to what has become one of Israel's strongest partnerships is the focus of the 2005 Hartmut Lang Lectureship, presented by Ambassador Niels Hansen, Germany's representative in Israel from 1981–1985. A Thorny Path to Partnership: Forty Years of German-Israeli Diplomatic Relations, will take place on Monday, September 19, at 7:30 p.m. in Hebrew College's Berenson Hall.

Retired in 1989 from a distinguished 37-year career with the German Foreign Service, Ambassador Hansen has remained active in a variety of German-Israeli institutions, including the Weizmann Institute of Science, and he has written extensively on German-Israeli relations.

The Hartmut Lang Lectureship is named for a German diplomat who served as Deputy German Consul in Boston in the late 1980s. During Lang's four years in Boston, he worked tirelessly and effectively to improve German-Jewish relations and organized a group called the German-Jewish Dialogue.

Inaugurated in 1998, the year following Lang's death, the Lectureship is sponsored by Dr. George Berkley, professor emeritus at UMass Boston. The program is free and open to the public. To register, please visit hebrewcollege.edu/langrsvp.

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