On 27 August, the Friedland Museum, together with its partners, the Internationaler Bund (IB) Göttingen, the Kreisau Foundation for European Understanding (Krzyżowa and Grodziszcze, Poland) and the FIEF (Foyer International d’Études Françaises), received this year’s Weimar Triangle Award for the JAZDA youth exchange project.
The award was presented in Weimar by the Minister President of Thuringia, Prof. Dr. Mario Voigt, the Mayor of Weimar, Peter Kleine, and the Chairman of the Weimar Triangle Association, Dieter Hackmann.
‘It is young people who show us time and again how vibrant and strong Europe is. While adults are shaped by political processes and structures, young people approach each other with courage and openness. The JAZDA project is an example of how language barriers, cultural differences and historical divisions can be overcome – with curiosity, openness and a sense of normality,’ said Mario Voigt.
‘With Friedland, Kreisau and Dieulefit, they visited places that have been shaped by flight, expulsion and persecution, but also by optimism and new beginnings. That is the real message: Europe is not only being created in Brussels or Berlin, but locally – in workshops, in exhibitions, in personal interactions. That is where the true power of Europe lies,’ emphasised the Minister President.
The idea for a trilateral youth exchange, JAZDA, was launched in 2021/2022 by the Friedland Museum. “From the outset, JAZDA has been a project in the spirit of the Weimar Triangle and European integration, which opposes exclusion and discrimination and promotes openness and cooperation. JAZDA stands for intercultural learning, encounters on an equal footing, getting to know European history and the creation of community. We don’t want to play different narratives of memory off against each other, but rather bring them into dialogue with each other,‘ said project coordinator Anna Louise Weßling.
’The award is a special recognition of our commitment and encourages us to continue!”
