Thousands of people visited Bellevue Palace. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier invited people to a two-day citizens’ festival at his official residence in Berlin-Tiergarten. This year’s festival was dedicated to voluntary work for civil society.
A look into Steinmeier’s office
After Friday was mainly a place for volunteers, Saturday was the “Open Palace Day”, where guests were able to explore the park and the palace itself on guided tours. They were also able to take a look at the Federal President’s office or the rooms in which he welcomes foreign guests at state banquets.
The program also included discussion groups, music, dancing and readings for children and adults. While some tried out the climbing wall, others were already strolling towards the “reading meadow”. This time the culinary offerings also included African specialties such as the maize porridge Ugali, after all, the community festival had a non-European partner country for the first time in Kenya.
The motto is “Stronger together”
The motto for both days was “Pamoja – stronger together”. It takes up a term from the Swahili language, which is spoken in Kenya and its neighbouring country Tanzania, among other places.
The Kenyan President William Ruto opened the festival on Friday together with Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender. Around 4,300 people were invited to the opening event on the first day. They are involved in sea rescue, environmental protection, refugee aid or the railway mission, for example. Federal President Steinmeier also wanted to use the festival to honor their efforts. According to reports, around 9,000 more guests had come by Saturday afternoon.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240914-930-232494/1
This is a message directly from the dpa news channel.
