TIRANA, Sept. 30 – A concert by the Amadeus Guitar Duo composed of Thomas Kirchhoff and his Canadian partner Dale Kavanagh opened this year’s German October events in Albania which will offer one month of tight calendar of cultural events under the motto “25 years of German reunification, 25 years of transformation in Albania.”
Movies, literature, theater, music, ballet and workshops are scheduled to be staged all over Albania in this ninth edition of the Deutscher Oktober scheduled to be held from Sept. 29 to Nov. 3.
“Together with our partners we have managed to compile a programme which is testimony to the diversity of German-Albanian relations in the field of culture,” says German Ambassador to Albania Hellmut Hoffmann.
“The idea is that both Germans and Albanians come closer and get to know each other better,” he adds.
2015 is a special year for both Germany and Albania. On October 3, Germany celebrates its 25th reunification anniversary while Albania commemorates the beginning of a new political era in December 1990 which brought the collapse of one of the harshest communist regimes.
“This year’s German October organized under the motto ’25 years of German reunification, 25 years of transformation in Albania’ will offer the opportunity for a reminder and reflection on these processes of change and transformation,” says ambassador Hoffmann.
Last July, the German embassy in Tirana commemorated the flooding of its embassy in July 1990 when some 3,200 Albanians were given asylum to German after entering the embassy facilities just as the communist regime was collapsing.
The ‘Carmina Burana’ opera bringing home Germany-based Albanian conductor Desar Sulejmani, a writer-in-residence and the famous beer fest are some of the highlights of this year’s Deutscher Oktober events.
“The tight events of the German October are a communication bridge between our two countries. The German cultural weeks in Albania are an excellent opportunity to experience the common values and Tekekom Albania is proud to contribute to this cultural exchange,” says Ornela Bego, a corporate relations manager at the newly rebranded Telekom Albania mobile operator, part of Deutsche Telekom.
