About This Project
2WARdS – Europe, Event in Dresden, Germany
19. – 22.03.2014
In most of the European countries the last war people experienced occurred around 70 years ago. Still, many young people take it for granted to grow up in times of peace. The older generation, born before 1940 however, has experienced war and its consequences very intimately. The European project 2WARdS Europe arranged a conversation between the two generations.
Older people get the opportunity to share their life experiences and to prevent their memories from vanishing. Young people are stimulated to think about one of the dark chapters in European history and to learn how to appreciate the political stability and constructive coexistence currently available within the European Union. They can learn directly from the experience of the older generation and use this knowledge in the building of a future thriving Europe.
During the project, from the 19 – 22/03/2014 in Dresden, manifold ventures were realised with the international guests; after the arrival of all the participants on Wednesday, Thursday started with a guided tour in the municipal museum, in order to help understand the extraordinary history of Dresden and explain the role of the city during The War. Meanwhile a steering-group with at least one participant from each country was working on the development of ideas and concepts for the final presentation of the project in Brussels in June 2014.
After a very tasty lunch in the restaurant Dresden 1900 at the Altmarkt, the participants went on a guided tour in the Frauenkirche. This visit was one of the highlights as this church, already known to many people, stands as an example of the destruction of Dresden in photographs. These images made the rebuilt church seem even more impressive. After the Frauenkirche the participants went to the Cultural Department of the Muncipality of Dresden in the Dresden Neustadt quarter.
Welcomed by Manfred Wiemer (Head of the Cultural Department) the project-group then presented the content of its previous meetings in Cesis, Voionmaan, Olesnica and Grenoble to the seniors and all other participants, as well as present the goals and video presentations of the contemporary witnesses. The day was very exciting and full of new information and finished off with a dinner in the restaurant Steiger near the City Herberge Hotel.
On Saturday there was first a visit to the Military Historical Museum with guided tours in four different languages (Polish, Czech, English and French) in order to give an understanding of the history of Dresden during the war period.
After the tour we were offered the opportunity to discuss about what had been seen. Starting at 15 o’ clock, the eagerly anticipated workshops took place in the Highschool of Dresden Bühlau. The content of the workshops was pottery making, drawing, singing of German folk songs and a photography workshop (where History was explained with the help of private pictures from the seniors to the students of the high school). We were very pleased to see the vigour and euphoria of our guests while being creative!
To conclude the project 2WARdS Europe, a cultural evening in the restaurant Stilbruch took place filled with a lot of fun, music and good mood; an amazing end to our shared time together.
Project venue: Dresden, Germany
Participating countries: Belgium, Germany, Finland, France, Croatia, Latvia, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary.
This project has been funded by the EU lifelong learning programme GRUNDTVIG.