Venice celebrates Europe

The Feast of Europe in Venice will be held from 3 to 31 May 2024, a month of events, meetings and appointments resulting from the collaboration between: Municipality of Venice - Europe Direct, Council of Europe - Venice Office, European Parliament - Milan Office, European Commission - Representation in Italy.

…and how does Eurojumelages celebrate Europe Day in your city?

EASTER GREETINGS

Dear friends of Eurojumelages,

I wish you, your families and friends a happy Easter, a few relaxing days and a good start to the approaching spring.

Sincerely,

Peter Backes 

In some places in Europe, Easter traditions have been celebrated for hundreds of years...

For example, in Schönecken/Eifel, close to Luxembourg and Belgium, the birthplace of my wife. A tradition has been practised there for 500 years on Easter Monday, the "Schönecker Eierlage", a competition between two bachelors.

Two bachelors compete against each other in a race on Easter Monday. One of them has to collect 104 raw eggs one by one and place them in a basket at the starting point.

The eggs are laid in sawdust on a road at a distance of one ell (62.5 centimetres). The packer (Raffer) covers a total distance of around 6.9 kilometres.

If an egg breaks, he has lost.

At the same time, his counterpart, the "runner" (Läufer), sets off on his way to the neighbouring village of Seiwerath and from there back to Schönecken. He has to cover 7.6 kilometres and a difference in altitude of 122 metres.

Whoever completes their task first is the winner.

The winner of the race receives a gold-plated watch, while the person who loses receives a gold-plated lighter. The 104 eggs are then eaten by all the bachelors at a big scrambled egg party on Easter Tuesday.  

The tradition dates back to the Middle Ages, when the lords of Schönecken Castle had errand boys who competed against each other to amuse the people.

I would like to thank Josef Kammerschen for his support for this article. He is involved in many social projects in Koblenz and has become an institution there, although he still feels very close to his home town of Schönecken.

https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/trier/tradition-wie-vor-500-jahren-wieder-eierlage-in-schoenecken-100.html

https://www.eifel.info/informationen/veranstaltungen/veranstaltungskalender/e-traditionelle-eierlage-schoenecken

https://www.facebook.com/josef.kammerschen/videos/2962871580401373?locale=de-de

The Federal Board of the EuroJD mourns the loss of its Honorary Chairman

Werner Blank

Holder of the Federal Cross of Merit

Honorary member of the Eurojumelages

died on 6 January 2024 at the age of 88

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Spanish language course of Eurojumelages in Benidorm from 6th to 10th November 2023

Dear friends of Eurojumelages,
There are so many reasons why it is worth learning Spanish.
Spanish is

• - the official language or important second language in 20 countries,
• - the second most spoken native language,
• - is useful for great trips to many Spanish-speaking countries
• - supposedly easy to learn and pronounce.

Just think of the countries where Spanish is spoken and all the exciting things you could experience.
And that's precisely why Eurojumelages has once again organised an intensive language course in Benidorm/Spain in 2023.

Read more ...