When Orchestra teacher and conductor Almut Engelhardt came to the United States from Germany, she left her entire life behind. A new immigrant with no job, she was forced to completely rebuild her life.
Engelhardt emigrated with her husband, a native-born American. The two met while on tour with the Heidelberg Chamber Orchestra, in which both were soloists, Engelhardt on violin and husband Christopher Kachian on guitar. After living for some years in Germany, they arrived in the United States on Sept. 8, 1991 after her husband was offered a tenured position at the University of St. Thomas. “It would have been hard for him to get something equivalent in Germany,” Engelhardt said.
Her husband had a new job, but Engelhardt had to start over. “When I came here, I had absolutely nothing,” she said. “In Germany, I was playing in a symphony, and here I had no job.” She searched for employment while adjusting to life on the west side of the Atlantic. She spoke English, but portions of American culture, particularly in Minnesota, were alien to her. “The longer you live in a country, the more you become aware of the difference in how people approach things,” she said. As one example, she points out that “in Germany, people are much more direct and…criticism is not personal,” whereas “here, usually criticism is perceived to be personal.”
Engelhardt hadn’t initially intended to teach, despite coming from seven generations of teachers. When she was offered her current position at St. Paul Academy and Summit School, she was initially ambivalent toward it. “I took the job because I didn’t want to be unemployed,” she said, “but I ended up loving it. So that was a good development.”
For years after leaving Germany, Engelhardt would return frequently to visit her family. While she doesn’t get to make as many trips back now as she used to, she still spends the majority of every summer in Germany. She often misses it, but she’s also attached to her life in America. “I really feel like I have two homes now,” she said.
