Jena celebrates German Unity Day with twin city Erlangen

The twin cities of Jena and Erlangen will celebrate the Day of German Unity on October 3, 2022 with a joint ceremony in Jena. Mayor Christian Gerlitz invites his counterpart Jörg Volleth to Jena together with citizens from Erlangen. This year, on the occasion of Jena's application for the "Future Centre for German Unity and European Transformation", there will also be a number of program items where you can follow in the footsteps of Jena's transformation stories and contemporary witnesses of German unity.

Dr. Thomas Nitzsche says: "We are delighted that we can count on Erlangen's support for our application for the Future Centre in the anniversary year of our 35-year city partnership. We want to make October 3 a very special day for interested parties in Jena and Erlangen."

Around 250 visitors from Erlangen are expected in the city.

The program for the Day of German Unity in Jena

Ceremony on the Day of German Unity

11.00 a.m., Volkshaus

The two mayors Christian Gerlitz and Jörg Volleth will welcome the guests. Alexandra Hiersemann, Member of the State Parliament for Erlangen-Höchstadt and Erlangen, will then give a speech. Musical and artistic contributions by the trombone choirs from Jena and Erlangen and the Jena children's and youth circus MoMoLo will frame the festive program.

City tours: upheavals and new beginnings

Jena is applying for the Future Center for German Unity and European Transformation. Interested parties can find out about the upheavals and new beginnings that the city has to tell in various city tours:

City tour "From upheaval to awakening - transformation narratives of a city" (duration approx. 1 hour, max. 25 people), 2:15 pm, meeting point at the Hanfried monument on the market square
2 special streetcar tours in the south of Jena with stories about the city's history and Jena's transformations (duration approx. 45 minutes per tour, max. 50 people each), 14:00 and 15:00 from the Ernst-Abbe-Platz stop.

The core of the Jena application is to make the stories and experiences of people dealing with German reunification visible. Numerous stories have already been uploaded at www.diezukunftbleibtanders.de. Another opportunity to see and hear contemporary witnesses and their memories is offered by two films from the Jena History Workshop, which will be shown in the plenary hall of the town hall:

Pub quiz

The now traditional pub quiz, this time with BigKev, will also take place again.

from 14:30, Café Immergrün

Partnership film

Partnership film "35 years of town twinning Jena-Erlangen" - parts 1 and 2 incl. short introduction by the history workshop and discussions

14:00 (part 1) and 15:30 (part 2), in the historic town hall

Ecumenical prayer for the Day of German Unity

17:00, St. Michael's Church

Singing together

Singing together to say goodbye as part of the "Germany sings and sounds" initiative

18.00 hrs, forecourt of St. Michael's Church

Departure

approx. 18.30 hrs, departure of the guests from Erlangen