Sarajevo centenary for young people
The assassination attack in Sarajevo signalled the beginning of World War I. The German Embassy in the Bosnian capital is staging projects for young people to mark the 100th anniversary.
The assassination of the successor to the Austro-Hungarian throne in the old town of Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 triggered the escalation of events that led to World War I. The shots that killed the crown prince Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were fired near the Latinska Ćuprija, the Latin Bridge. The name of this historical place is also the title of a major exchange programme for school students. It is being carried out by the German Embassy in Sarajevo together with the organisation Schüler Helfen Leben - SHL (an aid organisation managed by young people for young people) in the year of remembrance 2014. School students from Bosnia and Herzegovina are being invited to Germany, and the new contacts can be cultivated by German school groups during their return visit. “One hundred years after the assassination attack, the project is designed to build a new bridge, a bridge between the European Union and the Balkan states, between students in Germany and in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” explains Aida Bećirović, Director of the SHL office in Sarajevo. She is very pleased with the huge response: more than 30 schools are taking part in the programme with hundreds of young people.
Building bridges from ruins
The Latinska Ćuprija school exchange is an official contribution to the programme surrounding the centenary which is being organised under the umbrella of the Sarajevo – Heart of Europe Foundation. Together with European partners, the Bosnian capital is inviting the public to sports, cultural and discussion events. At the conference Mlada Europe (Young Europe) young people will be discussing lessons learned from history between 1914 and 2014. The young people come from states that once were enemies. The German Ambassador in Sarajevo, Ulrike Knotz, stresses: “In this way we are building new bridges from the ruins of the 20th century.”
Mlada Europe (Young Europe) Conference in Sarajevo marking the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 2014
http://sarajevo-heart-of-europe.org
www.schueler-helfen-leben.de
www.sarajewo.diplo.de
