Prof. Dr. Martin Leiner gave a keynote speech and held discussions on the topic of ‘reconciliation’.

as part of the annual series ‘War and Peace’ organised by the Ecumenical Academy Gera Altenburg

Published: 25 November 2025, 9:36

The city of Gera has been twinned with Arnhem in the Netherlands since 1987. Arnhem was the site of German war crimes during the Second World War.

At that time, the citizens of Arnhem deliberately sought a partnership with Gera as a city in the GDR. The town twinning succeeded in bridging the political differences of the Cold War and opened people up to each other, allowing reconciliation and forgiveness to take place.

Prof. Martin Leiner was the keynote speaker at the town hall on 1 November and gave a keynote speech at St. John's Church on 13 November (see flyer ‘War and Peace’pdf, 610 kb · de). He emphasised the special opportunities that town twinning offers for reconciliation and thanked the citizens of the town and its mayor for their great commitment to the partnerships with 11 towns.