On 7th-10th November I took part in a youth seminar in Germany entitled “Peacing it Together”. The seminar was organised by ‘UK-German Connection’, which aims to bring young people from Britain and Germany together to build bridges between the youth of our society across international borders.
I travelled to Leipzig with a group of 25 Northern Irish and 17 German participants for this event. The aim of the seminar was to bring together young people from two post-conflict societies to learn about the past divisions in our countries, as well as to discuss current topical issues and to provoke ideas and plans for future governments to prevent similar conflicts from recurring.
Leipzig is a place of great historical significance in Germany as this is the place where the first ‘Montagsdemonstrationen’ took place to protest about the harsh dictatorship of the East German government. We went on a historical walking tour of Leipzig city Centre and I learned a lot about ‘der Mauerfall’ (fall of the Berlin wall) as we were in Germany for the 30th anniversary of this monumental event.
We also took part in several workshops, where we discussed the divisions between East and West Germany as well as the divisions between Protestants and Catholics in NI. The Germans did not know much about the Troubles, so it was a very interesting experience to collaborate with my Northern Irish peers from different backgrounds to teach our German counterparts about the NI conflict and to get their perspectives on the situation. We did a lot of group work, allowing us to both share and expand our knowledge on modern history and current issues, such as Brexit.
Overall this was an extremely thought-provoking experience and I am very grateful to have received such an opportunity. I gained a lot of insight into the issues that still surround us today by having discussions with such a diverse range of people, both during and outside the workshops. It also gave me a great chance to improve my German vocabulary and to enjoy some of Germany’s most famous sights.
Holly Cobain (Year 13)
