Vladivostok, Russia
Dean Manfred Brockmann writes:
This year the Cultural Days in Vladivostok were a joint project of Germany, France, Poland and Russia. There were three different aspects to the event: 1) the political aspect 2) the celebratory aspect 3) the standard aspect.
1) 2014 is a special year in the history of the world. Three wars celebrate their anniversary years: the First World War, the Second World War and the so-called “Cold War”. We want to remember these wars not only to honor the veterans, but also to ask the following question: What are the positive outcomes of these three negative experiences?
Image For Europe the positive outcomes were obvious and include he road to the European Economic Union, which is now the heart and soul of German-French friendship. That is why we are so happy that the French Ambassador (along with other diplomat staff from France) brought an exhibition that shows us through pictures and in Russian the formation of this friendship and how it points to the formation of the European Economic Union. We opened the cultural days on the October 1 with the revealing of this exhibition in our church courtyard. Poland also sent a high-level delegation, headed by the Polish Ambassador, and accompanied by world-renowned organist Wittold Salewski from Krakow. Poland, Germany and France were at odds with each other in the course of last century, but came together as one in Vladivostok. This is something we can be proud of - the German Cultural Days were transformed into European Cultural Days.
The first evening, October 1, had the theme: “The Peaceful Unification of Europe as the Fruit of Two Bloody Wars and the end of the 'Cold War.'”What was the situation for Russia at the end of these three wars? That was the theme for our second evening, October 2. The theme for lectures that night was “The Unusual Road to Peace and Prosperity in Russia and Its Role in the Present-Day World of Tension.” This was the most exciting and interesting evening of all of them. One organization and two lecturers had to cancel their speeches because they were afraid of the current political situation.
The celebratory part consisted of two receptions at St. Paul’s Church. A. The reception to honor the German National Holiday “The Day of German Unity” was held on October 3. It was given by the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Germany Jaroslaw Kotyk and the German Embassy in Moscow. There was also a reception on October 6 given by German Ambassador to Moscow Rüdiger Freiherr von Fritsch. At this reception Manfred Brockmann received the German Federal Cross of Merit.
The standard part of the celebration was in the hallways of the University, where we met with the students. There was a gathering of German students in the Goethe Lecture Hall (Speaker was Ludmilla Kornilowa). The Theme for this lecture was “The Theme of War in German Literature.” There also was the traditional “Evening of Polish Music” hosted by the Vladivostok National Organization, “Dom Polski”. There were four organ concerts at St. Paul’s. Two of them featured Christian Lorenz from Pfungstadt, Germany and two superb concerts by Witold Zalewski from Krakow. There was a concert by a Brass and String Ensemble from the Vladivostok Opera along with a Clarinet Quintet playing Mozart. The final concert was put on by the ensemble “Concertone” under the direction of our own Alexander Borghardt.
Almost all of the events took place in the St. Paul’s Church. This church proved once again that it is a church that is at the center of life in this city and is always available to the city. It is always open and has lots of visitors. Our church council president Konstantin Pawlenko says quite often: “The people going into the church always come out of it with a different look on their faces. They leave with a look of comfort on their faces.”
We wish to thank all those who became involved in the difficult task of organizing these special cultural days. We also thank all the participants and guests who traveled such a long distance to be with us. We thank all of those who for 18 years have kept the faith concerning these cultural days. Finally, we especially thank our sponsors who have so faithfully supported us.
Manfred Brockmann, Pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Dean of the Russian Far East and Honorary Consul for Germany
Dean Manfred Brockmann writes:
This year the Cultural Days in Vladivostok were a joint project of Germany, France, Poland and Russia. There were three different aspects to the event: 1) the political aspect 2) the celebratory aspect 3) the standard aspect.
1) 2014 is a special year in the history of the world. Three wars celebrate their anniversary years: the First World War, the Second World War and the so-called “Cold War”. We want to remember these wars not only to honor the veterans, but also to ask the following question: What are the positive outcomes of these three negative experiences?
Image For Europe the positive outcomes were obvious and include he road to the European Economic Union, which is now the heart and soul of German-French friendship. That is why we are so happy that the French Ambassador (along with other diplomat staff from France) brought an exhibition that shows us through pictures and in Russian the formation of this friendship and how it points to the formation of the European Economic Union. We opened the cultural days on the October 1 with the revealing of this exhibition in our church courtyard. Poland also sent a high-level delegation, headed by the Polish Ambassador, and accompanied by world-renowned organist Wittold Salewski from Krakow. Poland, Germany and France were at odds with each other in the course of last century, but came together as one in Vladivostok. This is something we can be proud of - the German Cultural Days were transformed into European Cultural Days.
The first evening, October 1, had the theme: “The Peaceful Unification of Europe as the Fruit of Two Bloody Wars and the end of the 'Cold War.'”What was the situation for Russia at the end of these three wars? That was the theme for our second evening, October 2. The theme for lectures that night was “The Unusual Road to Peace and Prosperity in Russia and Its Role in the Present-Day World of Tension.” This was the most exciting and interesting evening of all of them. One organization and two lecturers had to cancel their speeches because they were afraid of the current political situation.
The celebratory part consisted of two receptions at St. Paul’s Church. A. The reception to honor the German National Holiday “The Day of German Unity” was held on October 3. It was given by the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Germany Jaroslaw Kotyk and the German Embassy in Moscow. There was also a reception on October 6 given by German Ambassador to Moscow Rüdiger Freiherr von Fritsch. At this reception Manfred Brockmann received the German Federal Cross of Merit.
The standard part of the celebration was in the hallways of the University, where we met with the students. There was a gathering of German students in the Goethe Lecture Hall (Speaker was Ludmilla Kornilowa). The Theme for this lecture was “The Theme of War in German Literature.” There also was the traditional “Evening of Polish Music” hosted by the Vladivostok National Organization, “Dom Polski”. There were four organ concerts at St. Paul’s. Two of them featured Christian Lorenz from Pfungstadt, Germany and two superb concerts by Witold Zalewski from Krakow. There was a concert by a Brass and String Ensemble from the Vladivostok Opera along with a Clarinet Quintet playing Mozart. The final concert was put on by the ensemble “Concertone” under the direction of our own Alexander Borghardt.
Almost all of the events took place in the St. Paul’s Church. This church proved once again that it is a church that is at the center of life in this city and is always available to the city. It is always open and has lots of visitors. Our church council president Konstantin Pawlenko says quite often: “The people going into the church always come out of it with a different look on their faces. They leave with a look of comfort on their faces.”
We wish to thank all those who became involved in the difficult task of organizing these special cultural days. We also thank all the participants and guests who traveled such a long distance to be with us. We thank all of those who for 18 years have kept the faith concerning these cultural days. Finally, we especially thank our sponsors who have so faithfully supported us.
Manfred Brockmann, Pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Dean of the Russian Far East and Honorary Consul for Germany
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