International Friendship Festival June 2022

FINALLY!!!

After the Corona break in 2020 and 2021, we were able to celebrate

the International Friendship Festival (Dinner) again on June 26th.

A few days earlier, Monika Mörler had set the mood (stage) with a

Zoom lecture about the Roman fort, the Saalburg and the largest

structure ever built in Europe: the Limes.

It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005.

Right next to the fort, in the banqueting hall of the Landgasthof

Saalburg, we enjoyed a welcome drink on the terrace in the warm

summer temperatures, after which we had the pleasure of following

the guided tour and the lecture by the Director of the Saalburg,

Dr. Carsten Amrhein.                                                                                                                             Click on the notes and you here the music in the video  

At the beginning of the tour, we were welcomed by a soldier from the Auxiliary troop.

He complained about the inequality of rights because, unlike the legionaries, they had no civil rights and were therefore very disadvantaged in many ways.  However, with a smile on his face, he told us that after 25 years of military service and an honorable farewell, he too would be awarded the citizenship right and could pass it on to his descendants.

Dr. Amrhein described the laying of the foundation stone of the Principia and the subsequent big celebration in a very exciting and vivid way:

On 11 October 1900, Wilhelm II, dressed in a general's uniform and accompanied by the Empress, entered the former legionary camp through the Porta Praetoria, greeted by loud fanfare sounds.  He then passed the bronze statue of Antonius Pius, the Roman Emperor who ruled over the Roman Empire at its greatest extent and who gave the Romans a long period of peace.

Wilhelm moved into the area via the Via Praetoria like a Roman emperor to lay the foundation stone of the Principia.

A Wiesbaden theatre director had orchestrated a re-enactment of the "event", having Prussian soldiers parade as legionaries in ancient Roman costume with the dignitaries of Bad Homburg, dressed in bearskins, taking on the role of the noble Germanic princes.

It was a bombastically initiated Roman festival that attracted great international attention.

After this excursion into the history of the Saalburg, our celebration commenced in the banqueting hall of the country inn. Our President, Yong-Hi Yim-Siegels, solemnly dressed in Hanbok, the traditional Korean costume, welcomed the approximately one hundred festively dressed guests. The President emphasised how nice it was to finally be able to celebrate a Friendship Festival again after two years. In her welcome speech, she reviewed the "Club Year of Meetings" that was coming to an end and thanked all the Club friends for their tireless efforts and their diverse commitment, without which a varied Club life would not be possible.

The first highlight of the program in the ballroom was the arias of soprano Hanna Kim Koo, accompanied by Seung-Jo Cha on the piano. Besides musical hits from Italy, France, England, Mexico and Ireland, it was traditional Korean songs, especially the Arirang performed a cappella in various versions, that fascinated the audience. The buffet with a variety of delicious dishes and the lively conversations at the tables were wonderfully accompanied by the jazz ensemble TrioLogie.

Everyone was eagerly awaiting the announcement of the result of the other highlight of the evening: the funds donated. A total of 15,000 euros was raised during the telethon, which our President handed over to Dr. Amrhein in the form of a symbolic cheque. Thus, the project "Feel, See and Grasp - a tactile model of the Saalburg Roman fort" will soon become a reality.

Delicacies from the dessert buffet brought a convivial summer evening to a close, reminding us all of what we had missed so much in the last two years: the direct person to person engagements from so many nations - just as Elisabeth Norgall would have wished.