Honorary Consul Sven Schumacher
2018 Hoosier German-American of the Year

Sven Schumacher is a native of Germany who came to the United States in 1985 on an exchange program with the Indiana University School of Social Work.  He began working with Lutheran Child and Family Services, which was founded by German immigrants to Indianapolis in 1883. Mr. Schumacher has served as Executive Director for that organization since 1998.

Sven has been involved in German-American relations for well over two decades, long before his appointment as Honorary Consul of Germany for the state of Indiana. He began serving as an Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany for Indiana in 2008, and received American citizenship in 2012.  He has been cooperating with the American Council on Germany to bring distinguished speakers to Indianapolis. Each year he brings three to four speakers to Indianapolis to talk about contemporary issues in Germany that are of interest to the general public.

He continues to have a great impact on the community by connecting partners and making them aware of Germany’s impact in Indiana especially in the economic, social, or cultural sector. Sven was instrumental in the Cologne-Indianapolis Sister City Partnership for many years. Schumacher makes himself available to the International Center of Indianapolis, the Mayor’s Office, or the Indiana Economic Development Corporation as a resource person for German companies who do business in Indiana or American companies who do business in Germany, assisting them with networking opportunities and references. 

He has initiated and supported German-Jewish dialogue in Indianapolis through joint programming efforts. Sven actively reaches out to the community, be it to the German departments at area colleges and universities, high school teachers, the business community, the Jewish community, or German organizations around the state. His main area of interest lies in contemporary German-American relations and in furthering those in the state of Indiana.

In 2015, Schumacher was awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Verdienstkreuz am Bande des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) at the Consulate General in Chicago. Mr. Schumacher's long and spirited involvement in the German-American community and dedication to fostering ties between Germany and the United States make him an ideal recipient of the award.