German language teachers took part in a seminar in Berlin

 

 

 

    

    The main theme was “The Culture of Memory” (“Erinnerungskultur”). During our stay we visited a lot of attractions in Berlin and got acquainted with a lot of extraordinary people thanks to the organizers - Peter Liesegang and Irina Serdyuk. One of the invited speakers was Waltraud Schwab, a German journalist and writer, winner of the Theodor Wolf Prize, who told us about the history of Germany based on poetry. Carola Dühring, a representative of the European Academy in Berlin, held a seminar on “Political education, methods, and ideas on the example of the EU and the Eastern Partnership”. Carola Dühring presented the projects organized by the academy, and provided us with a link to the website of the European Academy, which contains educational materials that can be used in teaching German. In addition, we discussed the attractions we visited earlier and their importance in preserving the culture of memory.

 

  

    The meeting with Gerd Liesegang, the former head of the Berlin Football Association, was extraordinary. The seminar “The social significance of football in Germany” helped us understand how important football can be to society. Mr. Liesegang told us about the union's cooperation with various institutions and about the union's main tasks - protecting children, preventing violence, racism, addiction, bullying etc.

   

    We were very hospitably received by the Ambassador's Counselor Oksana Dubovenko at the Embassy of Ukraine in Germany.

    NUBiP teachers visited the World War II museums and memorials for the victims of Nazism in Berlin.
 

 

 

    The visit to the Berlin Wall Memorial Complex (Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer) on Bernauerstrasse was extraordinary. The Memorial commemorates the division of Berlin by the Berlin Wall and the deaths that occurred there. The monument was created in 1998 by the Federal Republic of Germany and the Federal State of Berlin. Its length reaches 1.4 km and impresses with its stories, which did not always have a happy ending. The theme of the "wall" is quite relevant in our society. Our speaker, Mz Winand, stressed that the Berlin Wall Memorial Complex was built on a civic initiative, and the memory of the terrible events of the past helps not to repeat such mistakes in the future.

    We also had the opportunity to visit the Luisenstädter Friedhof - an old cemetery on Bergmanstrasse, Berlin-Kreuzberg, established in 1831. Our tour guide was Jakob Preuss, a well-known documentary filmmaker, who has shot in Ukraine, Bosnia, Iran, Morocco and all over Europe. He is the author of “The Other Chelsea. A story from Donetsk’, an award-winning documentary. In addition to directing, Jakob Preuss is actively engaged in political life.
 

 

 

   The seminars organised by dAch gGmbH are always engaging, thought-provoking and informative. Teachers, inspired by the new knowledge and discoveries, were glad to return home and are eager to share the newly gained information with their students during the forthcoming classes. As German folk wisdom says: “Ost, West - zu Hause best”.