"The courage to change, the courage to act - Odwaga do zmian, odwaga do działania" was the leitmotif under which all activities of the Kreisau-Initiative stood in 2019. The courage to act and to get involved in the change that was in the air in the summer of 1989 was also at the very beginning of the history of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe and the Kreisau-Initiative. We look back with gratitude on the 30th anniversary of our two organisations, which we were able to celebrate together in 2019 with such a wide range of activities.
For the Kreisau-Initiative, the anniversary was an occasion to once again take a close look at its own history. In the anniversary publication "From Kreisau via Berlin to Europe", the authors trace key moments - from the founding of our association in 1989, to the establishment of our own office since 2002, to the internationally networked educational work and encounters that are now carried out by a professional office with 14 employees. It was also important to us to create a variety of encounters and discussions between our association members. In the summer and autumn of 2019, for example, generational dialogues took place in which younger and older members told each other how they came to the Kreisau-Initiative and why they are committed to the Krzyżowa. A small excerpt of this could be heard in September 2019 at a generational talk in Berlin.
Enriching encounters also took place at our annual Pentecost Meeting in Krzyżowa with over 60 participants. In a round table discussion entitled "European Understanding - 30 Years of Work in Progress", they had the opportunity to talk about Krzyżowa as a citizens' project, the importance of dialogue and European understanding, formats of youth exchange and working with utopias in political education. The meeting took place immediately before the conference "Challenge of Dialogue: Democracy, Religion and Resistance in Society", organized jointly with the Krzyżowa Foundation.
One of the highlights of this year was the splendid summer party, which we celebrated on August 17th in Berlin. We were very pleased to welcome so many different people who have been connected to the Kreisau-Initiative for many years and have helped to shape it: members of the first team and new members, former employees, teamers, volunteers, silent supporters and long-time donors of our work. And especially: employees and committee members of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe as well as people from partner organisations in Poland and many other countries. The fact that we were able to celebrate in such a varied group on this day was the best present for the Kreisau Initiative this year.
For the first time in the history of our association, we invited 35 representatives of partner organisations in our network to a PartnerLab to reflect together on what we can achieve with our work in the respective societies and across national borders. As an association that now implements projects with participants from over 40 countries, this question will continue to accompany us in the coming years.
In addition to all the celebrations, our team also achieved a lot in 2019. More about the projects can be found in our current annual newsletter, which is published in German at Christmas and in English at the beginning of the year, and on our website: www.kreisau.de.
*Ole Jantschek is Chairman of the Kreisau-Initiative and Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe.
Photos: Vanja Obad, Bashar Oudeh, Michał Żak, Kreisau-Initiative e. V.
