It was a cultural celebration for us. On 25 May, the event “Neighbors Visiting Neighbors” took place at the Boitzenburg church “St. Marien auf dem Berge.” We, the UMBRUCH Gruppe, had the pleasure of hosting the day together with the Stiftung Zukunft Berlin and will remember it fondly.

Since 2013, the Stiftung Zukunft Berlin has been organizing readings in village churches across Brandenburg. The aim of the series is to bring Berlin and Brandenburg neighbors together through culture and to promote exchange between the city and surrounding regions. For the day in Boitzenburg, all guests agreed: we achieved this goal.

Up to 50 visitors were on site. Many of them arrived in the morning to be guided around the mill complex by Daniel Haver, founder and CEO of the UMBRUCH Gruppe, on the site where the future KLOSTERPARK Boitzenburg will be developed. A highlight was the mill tour led by museum miller Martin Joost, which included a demonstration of the old milling techniques. By the end of the tour, everyone could clearly feel that every effort is worthwhile to preserve such places as museums and prepare them for the future.

The subsequent guided tour of the town with architect Carsten Frerich brought the history and charm of Boitzenburg to life once again and served as the perfect prelude to the main program: a reading by author Holger Siemann from the book “Drei Stunden hinter Berlin. Briefe aus dem Vikariat” by Heinrich Wolfgang Seidel. Musically accompanied by the Boitzenburg church choir Cantores and organist Adrian Rovatkay, it was a wonderful event in a beautiful setting.

Before the neighbors gathered for coffee and cake at the Gasthof zum Grünen Baum, Daniel Haver was presented with an old mill window by Prof. Dr. Hubertus Fischer, Honorary President of the Theodor Fontane Society and supporter of the “Neighbors Visiting Neighbors” series, at the conclusion of the reading. This was a token of thanks for the day and for the many events we still have ahead of us.

As the UMBRUCH Gruppe, all we can do is return our thanks. Thank you to the Stiftung Zukunft Berlin for their ongoing commitment, and to all the guests who were undeterred by the weather. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to make a small contribution to the exchange between Berlin and Brandenburg.

We continue to work on the design and completion of the KLOSTERPARK Boitzenburg. To bridge the time until the opening in a culturally meaningful way, we recommend attending the upcoming “Neighbors Visiting Neighbors” events, which we are happy to highlight here: stiftungzukunftberlin.eu/aktuelles