A delegation from Koryukivka visited the German twin city of Waldkirch

The history of relations between Koryukivka and Waldkirch began with the first visit of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to our city in 2021. In the future, visits and exchange of experience were repeatedly postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the full-scale invasion.

During the second visit to Koryukivka, the President of Germany gave the mayor Ratan Akhmedov the contacts of the city of Waldkirch, which wanted to become a sister city of Koryukivka.

This was followed by a video conference of the two delegations to get to know each other.

In September of this year, a delegation from our city went on an official visit to Waldkirch to learn more about this city, talk about Koryukivka and discuss future cooperation.

 

The visit of the delegation from Koryukivka began with an introduction to the city of Waldkirch and its history.

The first documentary mention of Waldkirch dates back to 926 and reports on the foundation of the monastery St. MargaretWaldkirch is a small Bavarian town in southern Germany with a population of about 22,000. It has a lot in common with our Koryukivka, in particular, the city has an equally well-developed industry, and a significant part of the income to the budget and jobs here is provided by the wood processing industry.

"The cozy town of Waldkirch welcomed the delegation from Koryukivka with sunny, unseasonably warm weather. As it turned out, the inhabitants of the city are just as warm and sunny - pleasant, friendly people who sincerely believe in the victory of Ukraine and try to support our country with all possible, available resources. It is nice that the mayor of the city met with us Michael Schmieder. He was glad that the delegation from Koryukivka finally came to the Waldkirch. Mr. Michael also conveyed his congratulations to our mayor Ratan Akhmedov and wished Ukraine a speedy Victory," city council secretary Anastasia Plyusch shares her memories of the trip.

Visit to the school

The main priority of both cities is the development of education. Therefore, Koryukiv residents first of all visited the local one "Brother and Sister Scholl Gymnasium" and a music school. It was during this visit that the delegation learned about the peculiarities of education and adaptation of Ukrainians in German schools.

By the way, in order to study at the Scholl Brothers and Sisters Gymnasium, you have to pass an entrance test, and not all students manage to pass it. Today, children who were forced to flee from the war in Ukraine also study in this school. The management of the school reported that Ukrainian children also passed such a test last academic year - for the first time in the existence of the gymnasium, the school made exceptions and increased the number of places, as young applicants from Ukraine showed very high results in the entrance tests.

It is interesting that every graduate of this gymnasium can leave some decoration on the walls of the institution as a memory of himself.

"We had a great opportunity to be present at the adaptation lesson - this is a lesson for Ukrainian children on learning German, but it takes place absolutely in the form of a live dialogue. The atmosphere in the classroom is relaxed, communication with the teacher looked like just a free conversation with a friend," Oksana Kukuyuk, head of the Department of Economy, Transport, Investments and Tourism, shared her impression. 

The music school impressed the delegation with its thoughtful architecture and material base. The founder of this institution is the family of patrons Ervin and Gisena Sik. Ms. Sik personally arranged the space of this institution, thought out the architecture of the building, including the thickness of the walls and the rounding of the corners in the rooms, so that the children did not interfere with each other's learning of the art of music.

The delegation also visited the training center of the "Sik" company, where they had the opportunity to personally see how future specialists in the field of commerce and the technical field (for example, electricians, mechanics, programmers, etc.) are trained.

During this meeting, the delegations agreed on the possibility of cooperation between our educators and German colleagues to exchange experience in the form of personal meetings, communication between young people of Koryukiv and children from the Waldkirch, and also, with additional agreement, in the future it is possible to organize a visit of our children to Germany for the purpose of direct participation in the German educational process.

Presentation of the city of Koryukivka

Next was the presentation of Koryukivka. The secretary of the Koryukivka city council told the Germans the history of our city, about the beginning of a full-scale invasion. She shared her memories of the problems faced in Koryukivka at the beginning of the invasion, how the bread factory was restored during the occupation, and how unarmed Koryukivka citizens stopped the tanks.

In addition, Anastasia Plyushch introduced the economy of the city of Koryukivka to those present and thanked her German colleagues for the powerful generator they helped us get in January 2023. After all, thanks to this equipment, the heating and water supply system of Koryukivka worked, despite serious failures in the energy sector, which were caused by russian shelling of Ukrainian infrastructure.

"All those present expressed their admiration for the courage of the Ukrainian people, their strength of spirit and belief in victory. And they also assured that support and assistance for Ukraine is one of the priority tasks of Germany's partner country and the sister city of Waldkirch," the secretary of the city council shared her impressions.   

A visit to the hospital

One of the main visits was a visit to the hospital in the city of Emmendingen. The city of Waldkirch has only a general hospital. However, more specialized treatment can be obtained at the hospital in Emmendingen, located about 10 km from Waldkirch.

The delegation got acquainted with the work of the hospital, found out what services are provided there, visited the department of traumatology and the maternity ward.

The visitors were pleasantly surprised by the maternity ward. After all, it is equipped not only for the convenience of the mother and baby, but also for the father. According to hospital staff, this is because "fathers are present at 90% of births."

In general, the system of the medical field in Germany differs from the Ukrainian one, both in the provision of first aid and in access to consultations of specialized specialists.

During the meeting, the delegation received affirmative support from the hospital and agreed to provide equipment assistance to the surgical department of the Koryukiv hospital. They also discussed the possibility of exchanging experience between the doctors of the Koryukiv Central District Hospital and the specialists of the Emmendingen Hospital.

Cycling infrastructure and urban planning

Employees of the planning, construction and environment department of the city of Waldkirch shared valuable experience in the development of the city's cycling infrastructure and climate protection. This information is very important for Koryukivka, as we also strive to develop a convenient cycling infrastructure and want to create safe road traffic for all its participants.

The city of Waldkirch has an ambitious goal to encourage its residents to use bicycles as their main means of transportation as much as possible. To achieve this goal, some businesses in the city, including the city council, have introduced incentive programs for their employees who wish to purchase a bicycle. For example, the city council compensates an employee for 50% of the cost of a purchased bicycle. In addition, the city has established speed limits for cars. It is 30 km/h. The city also plans to build bicycle autobahns, because such an infrastructure object already exists in the city of Freiburg and has a length of 35 km.

Meeting with immigrants

During its visit, the delegation had the opportunity to visit the house of all generations "Rothes House". This institution aims to unite people of different ages and status, and also provides assistance to youth who have strayed from the right path, helping them in crisis situations.

The largest number of visitors to "Rothes House" are immigrants. By the way, one of the rooms in the institution was furnished by Ukrainian women.

In this room, Ukrainian women can leave their children in order to be able to solve organizational issues, such as submitting documents for employment or attending German language classes. There is no permanent teacher in this room, so mothers take turns taking care of the children.

You can also have lunch at this establishment for a fee. The cost is symbolic, calculated for socially vulnerable sections of the population.

In order to diversify the dishes, the management of the establishment prepares menu days of different countries and, if possible, involve immigrants from such countries in the preparation. Ukrainian borscht and dumplings were also prepared in this kitchen.

Our delegation had the opportunity to communicate with refugees from Ukraine who were forced to flee to Germany due to the war started by russia. Approximately two hundred citizens of Ukraine found shelter and a new home in the Waldkirch. Each of them did not remain without the attention of the German people friendly to Ukraine. The immigrants are helped to solve all social and legal issues, thematic meetings are organized. The city provides housing for refugees from Ukraine. Now, by the way, several dormitories are being built to accommodate displaced persons.

Tourism

On the World Tourism Day, the delegation got acquainted with the arrangement of tourist attractive territories, with the organization of expedition routes and got to know the specialists responsible for this area of the Waldkirch City Council.

During the meeting, the delegation learned about special methods of public opinion selection regarding the arrangement of tourist locations, identification of interesting places, ways to improve them, and attracting refugees to participate in these events.

Koryukivka residents also had the opportunity to touch the history of the city of Waldkirch, visiting the museum "Elztalmuseum". Learned how the city lived from its foundation to the present day. We learned about all the cultural events held here, about fairs and festivals. In addition, they were able to hear the sounds of the organ and the cuckoo clock, which were first made in this city.

Gratitudes

A lot of useful information and impressions remained from the meeting with German friends and partners. We hope for fruitful cooperation between Waldkirch and Koryukivka. Thank you to all the German people for supporting our country. And we are also waiting for the visit of friends from Waldkirch to our city.

After all, it is much easier to follow plans with a friend, and Waldkirch is such a friend for us.

The delegation sincerely thanks the German friends for the organization of an interesting, meaningful, fruitful trip. Thank you Thomas Fischer, Jana Kempf, Jule Rehm, Juliane Heln, Olga Wieber and Victoria Sklyarova

And we also express our gratitude Ukrainian-German society, namely Serhii Morozenka for the opportunity to communicate and understand information. We would like to thank all the sincere people who helped the residents of Koryukiv to have a comfortable stay in Germany.