The Meeting in Osnabrueck, November 2012
For a start, here’s the schedule for the Osnabrueck meeting in November 2012.
The Ceremonial Act, Osnabrueck, November 29, 2012
The Headmaster’s Speech
Hartmut Bruns, headmaster of the EMA-Gymnasium addressed the audience:
Dear students,
dear parents, dear colleagues,
dear headmasters and headmistresses of the neighbouring schools,
dear other German guests, especially dear Lord Mayor Pistorius,
dear mayor Jabs-Kiesler, dear mayor Strangmann,
dear members of the city council and administration.
As headmaster of the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Gymnasium Osnabrück and on behalf of the whole school community I would like to give you the warmest welcome.
In particular, I would like to welcome officially the teachers and headmasters of our new Comenius partner schools. We are happy to have you here at our school. You, that is: guests from 5 different European nations.
Depuis longtemps, il existe des relations étroites entre la France et l’Allemagne. Beaucoup d’elèves ont passé un certain temps dans nos écoles partenaires en France. Aujourd’hui, je suis très heureux de pouvoir vous accueiullir de Marseille dans notre école pour cette petite fête.
Ik ben hartstikke blij, dat onze nederlandse partnerschool ook aan het Comeniusproject deelnemt en verwelkom van harte onze gasten van de Schoter Scholengemeenschap uit Haarlem.
Ogni anno i nostri studenti vanno a Roma per conoscere la storia e la cultura di Roma e degli Italiani. Colgo l’occasione per darvi il Benvenuto nella nostra scuola e nella nostra città, sperando che vi troviate a vostro agio.
Buon divertimento durante il vostro soggiorno!
Los Alemanes estamos muy conectados con España. Estamos muy contentos sobre la colaboración con ustedes. O, alá que tengan un buen tiempo aquí en Alemania, bienvenidos a todos ustedes!
Bizim EMA-Okulumuza hoxgeldiniz. Davetiyeminizi kabul ettiginiz için ve bu uzun yolculuxu yaptixiniz için, sizlere texxekxr ederxm.
Cok memnun oldum.
Why are we here today?
First of all, because our schools committed to the European idea wanted to get involved and committed to become part of the Comenius programme to support multilateral relationships between European schools.
So every single school had to put in an application to become a Comenius school and the application process was not easy and required a lot of energy and time for all schools.
For this reason I would initially like to say thank you to all teachers and headmasters who engaged for the programme.
Six schools from six European nations have come together this week at the EMA in the peace city of Osnabrueck to plan and develop together the project “The Modern European City”, and we have already worked hard on this project.
Until 2014 we will – also together with our students – meet in different countries to exchange our experiences and continue working together.
I am looking forward to this project, because it means to make a contribution that people from different countries get to know each other and I am sure that lots of those who participate in this project will make friends for life.
Today, we are also here because together with other Europeans we will be awarded the Peace Nobel Prize in the Norwegian capital Oslo on 10 December 2012.
We will be awarded the Prize for our contributions for “over six decades that contributed to the development of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe”.
Especially in times in which strong protests against the EU can be heard because of financial debt crises in several European countries, this decision of the Nobel Prize Committee transmits a signal which is perceived worldwide, a signal to overcome prejudices, hate and war through cooperation and the willingness of reconciliation.
The Prize is an important occasion to make people all over the world aware of what makes the EU so special.
It is also an opportunity to inject new life in the European peace message, often regarded as out-dated.
The award should serve not only as a tribute to past achievements but also as an encouragement for current and future endeavours.
The Prize is not only directed to European leaders but also to all European citizens, that means, to all of us. And indeed everybody in Europe has a stake in protecting peace and democratic values for future generations.
The Peace Nobel Prize should be a source of pride in the extraordinary achievements of the European project: a continent which had consumed itself in war for centuries has become a continent unified in peace and democratic values and one of the strongest supporters of peace throughout the world.
The Nobel Prize should also be a source of pride in the fact that this is truly a common achievement of Europeans from so many countries who have overcome division and learned to get to know each other better by working together.
It addition, it is a reminder that our Union should not be taken for granted. Securing and strengthening Europe as we know it, united in peace and democracy, is a constant day-to-day work that requires the involvement of all Europeans, no matter if they come from France, from Italy, from the Netherlands, from Spain, from Turkey or from Germany.
Furthermore, the Prize should be an inspiration for younger generations.
We should go on with the audacity of our founding fathers.
We must continue the relentless work carried out over generations to bring together our countries and to make friends.
Last but least it should be an inspiration for countries yearning for peace.
In spite of plenty of problems, the EU is one of the most successful peacekeeping projects in the world, demonstrating that reconciliation is possible and how powerful agreeing on a new beginning with respect and tolerance and without prejudice can be.
I am firmly convinced that the six European schools that meet in Osnabrück in the EMA this week are willing to support the European idea by means of cooperation and partnership, thus strengthening the European idea.
Thank you.
The Ceremonial Act, Novmeber 29. 2012
The Diary (PDF file)
produced by the group from Cassino, Italy
