American Women's Club of Hamburg Currents Magazine January 2014 | Page 27

Happy Bir thday to Us!
By Becky T.

The AWC Hamburg is 57 years old this month.
Actually we already existed in 1931, and joined
FAWCO in 1935. We even hosted the eighth
FAWCO conference in 1938. During the war
years the club was disbanded to return officially
in January 1956 as the American Women’s
Luncheon Club. Shortly afterwards it became The
American Women’s Club of Hamburg. Originally
the “newsletter” was a one-page invitation to the
monthly luncheon written by someone’s husband’s
secretary, printed and mailed from his office. The
first dues were DM 5 in 1973 to cover the costs
of this mailing. In 1979 dues were raised to DM
35, after an end-of-year review showed a deficit of
DM 144.90. Dues were raised to DM 65 in 1984,
to DM 70 in 1987, and to DM 100 in 1992. The
one-page invitation began to expand in 1976 to
include current events in Hamburg, recipes, places
to visit, as well as survival information. Later,
this provided the groundwork for publication of
Hamburg in Your Pocket and then Bloom Where you
are Planted. In 1985 we became a registered club
(eingetragener Verein or e.V.).
Now, many years later, we are still changing,
expanding, analyzing, and working for the
betterment of the club. Soon we will have an
electronic issue of Currents; dues will be changed
again –this time in the opposite direction, i.e.,

lower rather than higher.
In Germany there are six more American Women’s
Clubs (although Augsburg and Munich are actually
international) in FAWCO – our sister clubs, so to
speak. What about them?
Augsburg was founded in 2010 and has 35
members. Dues are € 50. Their newsletter is
published only electronically.
Berlin was founded in 1931, disbanded during the
war and came back in 1994. It has 15 members.
Dues are € 50, with special rates for senior citizens.
They correspond electronically.
Cologne was founded in 1961, and has 260
members with dues at € 60. They publish an
electronic newsletter, but print one six times a year
as well.
Düsseldorf, founded in 1959, has 180 members,
€ 65 dues, and an electronic newsletter, as well as
a printed one which comes out four times a year.
Munich came into existence in 1980, has 240
members, dues at € 50, and only an electronic
newsletter.
The Taunus (aka Frankfurt) was founded in 1971.
It is the largest with 400 members, most expensive
at € 75 and has only an electronic newsletter.

GOOD NE WS! What FAWCO has been able to do for US citizens
living overseas.
From the FAWCO U.S. Liaison, Lucy Laederich (AAWE Paris)

FATCA
For most of us in FAWCO today, Foreign Account Tax
Compliance Act (FATCA) has come to symbolize invasive
reporting on private financial information related to our
legitimate accounts in the countries where we live and
work (and often, those of our non-American spouses).
However, there has been some good news: the original
$50,000-aggregate threshold above which individuals are
required to submit IRS Form 8938 with their tax declaration
has been raised to $200,000; the deadline for FATCA
reporting has been pushed back, several times; Treasury
Currents January 2014

has created an extremely complete and helpful “topic
index” for overseas filers (http://taxmap.ntis.gov/taxmap/
internationalindex.htm); foreign financial institutions are
now obliged to report extensively only on “high-value” or
“high-risk” accounts. We must also remember that FATCA
is a fact: it has been signed into law and both EU and
OECD countries are exploring ways to implement their
own versions.
Following the first “joint statement” signed in late 2012
between the United States and France, Germany, Italy,
Spain and the UK, seven countries (Denmark, Germany,
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