►Photos, presentation: Esperanto town (.pdf, 4.16 MB)

Background

Following a decision of the Town Council on 12 July 2006, Herzberg am Harz now uses the official additional designation 'Esperanto-urbo' (Esperanto Town) http://herzberg.de. The decision, supported by all four political parties represented on the Town Council, was followed by congratulatory wishes to Mayor Gerhard Walter from all parts of the world.

Twin Towns

Esperanto has been particularly successful in reactivating contacts between the twin towns of Herzberg and Góra in Poland. In April 2005 Mayor Gerhard Walter and Mayor Tadeusz Wrotkowski agreed to use Esperanto as their joint language. Esperanto is taught in the schools of both towns. In August 2006 pupils from schools in Herzberg and Góra used Esperanto for their first meeting at a forest youth hostel in Herzberg-Pöhlde. Further meetings with a wider range of international participants are scheduled for the coming summers.

An Esperanto Pioneer

Esperanto activity in Herzberg began in the 1960s when Joachim Giessner began teaching the neutral international language. For 46 years he remained President of the German Esperanto Association for Railwaymen, was for 22 years President of the International Esperanto Federation for Railwaymen and translated some 400 songs into Esperanto.