Remembering Claus M. Halle
"Nothing short of international understanding is my goal."
Claus Halle often remarked that he was a man with two birthdays: May 27, 1927, the day that he was born in Schwelm, Germany, and May 8, 1945, VE Day, the end of World War II in Europe.
Halle (pronounced Hah-luh), who spent his early childhood in India, had been drafted into the German army at the age of sixteen. On the verge of capture by approaching Soviet troops, he risked his life to swim across the icy Elbe River and surrender to the American army instead. His family had lost everything. He had witnessed the horrors of warfare and his country’s descent into ethnic hatred and xenophobia.
Thus began his second life, marked by a dedication to expanding understanding and respect among peoples and nations of the world
"I had received a good education and came from a good family, but the war made us refugees. Mr. Woodruff [Robert Woodruff, former president of The Coca-Cola Company] said that the world belongs to the hungry. Refugees were hungry and were willing to work harder.
In 1950 Halle joined The Coca-Cola Company in West Germany as a truck driver, beginning a long and distinguished career with Coke that spanned nearly forty years. Working his way from trainee, to area manager for central Europe, president of Coca-Cola Europe, senior executive vice president and finally, to president of Coca-Cola International, Claus Halle led the transformation of The Coca-Cola Company into a truly global operation. In the 1970s, he made Atlanta his adopted home city and built a replica of his family’s ancestral home in Silesia, which had been destroyed in the war.
"I want more Americans to understand how deeply Germany feels a debt of gratitude for America’s help in recovery after the war. This relationship, of friendship and strong economic and political bonds, must form the backdrop for any passing political disagreements."
Upon his retirement in 1989, Halle intensified his focus on philanthropy, serving on the boards of such organizations as The Carter Center, the Southern Center for International Studies, and the Woodruff Arts Center, among others. He established The Halle Foundation, which promotes transatlantic relations between the people of Germany and the United States.
“America is such a vast continent with so many opportunities that there is a tendency not to learn enough about the rest of the world. U.S. relations with the rest of the world could be improved by learning more about other countries and societies.”
In 1997, recognizing global citizenship as a defining characteristic of our age, he founded The Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning at Emory University to foster greater knowledge of the world among the Emory and Atlanta community. Based on the principle that cross-cultural understanding occurs most richly when people meet in face to face, The Halle Institute sponsors research on topics of global import, such as governance, brings distinguished policymakers and public intellectuals to Emory and Atlanta, and sends Emory faculty and staff members on intensive learning trips to two vitally important nations near to Halle’s heart: Germany, the place of his birth and ancestry, and India, where he spent his early childhood. In 2000 Emory bestowed an honorary degree upon him.