COMMENTARY: Sibiu / Hermannstadt 2007 Luxembourg and the adjacent regions from Germany, France and Belgium sounded the beginning of the European Cultural Capital 2007 (ECC 2007) on Saturday, in Luxembourg, in a ceremony which lasted until 6 a.m. The official opening ceremony was attended by the Ducal Family from Luxembourg (photo), the Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, MEPs, representatives of the European Commission and of the participating regions, European ministers from the domain of culture, and over 200 journalists from all over Europe. Romania was represented by a delegation headed by the mayor of Sibiu, Johannis Klaus, Sibiu and Luxembourg being twin cities for the events of 2007. The originality of the edition 2007 of the European Cultural Capital in Luxembourg consists in the fact that it involves the adjacent areas of the Great Duchy, the country with a population of 450,000. These are cultural projects from Saar and Rhineland-Palatinate (western Germany), Lorraine (North-eastern France) and the province of Luxembourg (South Belgium), a “Greater Region” where a total of over 11 million inhabitants speak French and German. Over 500 projects will be presented, over 130 of them being cross-border, grouped around five themes: “migration” (Great Duchy), “culture and industrial patrimony” (Saar), “great European personalities” (Rhineland-Palatinate), “culture and memory” (Lorraine), and “the expression of modernity” (Belgium). There will be also joint projects with Romania. |
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European Cultural Capital for 2007 (more) | |||||||||||||||
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Lft: Piata Mica (Sibiu) in 2005 Below: Piata Mica in 2001 and in 1830s |
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Photo © C. Jitianu | ||||||||||||||||
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Lft: Evangelical/Lutheran Church
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The Luxembourg Premier, Jean-Claude Juncker, declared at the official opening ceremony that this initiative, “a real challenge” for the four countries involved and the participating authorities and institutions, will allow the rapprochement of the citizens from the respective regions, in order to strengthen their feeling of joint affiliation to Europe. Juncker also evoked the importance of the year 2007 for Romania and Bulgaria, which marks their accession to the European Union, adding that he will pay a visit to Romania in 2007. Guy Dockendorf, President of the association Luxembourg-Greater Region, the European Cultural Capital 2007, thanked the politicians for accepting to leave the organisation of the events to the “non-politicians,” and also to the Romanian authorities involved in this extensive cultural cooperation project. In his turn, the Mayor of Sibiu said that although Sibiu and Luxembourg are 2,200 km. apart, they are closer through this project. “For each citizen in Luxembourg there is a citizen in Sibiu with whom he shakes hands for 2007, and hopefully we shall have as many common collaboration moments as possible,” said Klaus. The Government from Luxembourg put at the disposal of the organisers a budget of EUR 30 M, plus EUR 15 M coming from the budget of the city of Luxembourg and various sponsors. The events of Saturday were attended also by numerous people from the border, for whom the public administration organised special train and bus shuttles. Around 700 blue deer (the symbol of ECC 2007) of metal, 1.70 m. high and 2.10 m. long, were “planted” in the whole region, including the entries to Luxembourg and the cities of the Greater Region, such as Metz and Thionville (France), Arlon (Belgium), Trier and Saarbrucken (Germany). |
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