The European Union is facing the greatest challenge in its history. It is under pressure from both the East and the West. Russia's war against Ukraine, which is also an attack on the European peace order and the foundations of the EU, is causing unrest in Europe. Transatlantic relations have also changed under President Trump. For Germany and the EU, it is a matter of Europe's self-assertion, of defending freedom, the right of peoples to self-determination, and the sovereignty of states. 

Ukraine in particular, but also Moldova and the states of the Western Balkans, are striving to join the EU. They hope that this will bring them security, stability, and prosperity. This hope is well-founded. The EU's eastward expansion in 2004 to include Poland, Czechia, and the Baltic states has been a success story. Can it be repeated? What lessons can be learned from it today? What role can the EU play in overcoming the war in Ukraine and what contribution can it make to the development of stability and progress on the fringes of Europe's conflicts? How can the European Union become more capable of acting in the geopolitical struggle for the future of Europe? And what does all this have to do with us?

Wiesbaden has been well connected in Europe and beyond for many years: the city currently maintains a total of 18 city and district partnerships. The oldest will soon be 100 years old, while the youngest was only signed in 2023. Right in the middle is the city partnership between Wiesbaden-Naurod and Fondettes on the Loire, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. So you can see that town twinning is a living part of urban society in Wiesbaden.

And yet the question arises: how relevant are town twinning arrangements today? Have they long since fulfilled their original purpose—to strengthen understanding between people in Europe? Or are they now more important than ever in keeping Europe together? And what do town twinning arrangements need in order to be well positioned for the future?

We would like to discuss these questions with:

• René Brosius, Hessian State Chancellery, Deputy Head of Department IX – International and European Affairs 
• Christian Hepp, Head of the Funding Management and Europe Division, State Capital of Wiesbaden
• Birgit Reichwald-Dohmes/Anke Henningsen, Royal Tunbridge Wells - Wiesbaden Association
• Anna Hesse, high school graduate and youth representative on the board of the Naurod-Fondettes e.V. partnership association
• Moderator: Dr. Martina Schaad, Chairwoman of the Naurod-Fondettes Partnership Association, in cooperation with Wiebke Roth, Protocol Department of the City of Wiesbaden

An event organized by the Naurod-Fondettes e. V. partnership association, supported by the protocol department of the City of Wiesbaden, which is responsible for city partnerships.

Cédric Klapisch's lively ensemble comedy, with its lightheartedness, wit, and international cast, perfectly captured the spirit of the Erasmus generation and has long since achieved cult status. 

25-year-old economics student Xavier goes to Barcelona for a year to finish his studies. At the same time, he also wants to improve his Spanish, as he has the prospect of a lucrative job at the Paris Ministry of Economy and Finance. After a painful breakup with his long-time girlfriend Martine, Xavier finally arrives in Barcelona and ends up in a multilingual shared apartment with six other students from all over Europe. For all of them, this is the beginning of a turbulent year full of love and arguments, joy and pain, and above all, the search for their individual paths in life. In short: a year that turns their lives, which are just beginning, completely upside down.

F/E 2002, 121 min., original version with subtitles, FSK: 6

Written and directed by Cédric Klapisch. Cinematography by Dominique Colin.

Starring Romain Duris, Judith Godrèche, Audrey Tautou, Cécile de France, Kelly Reilly, Xavier de Guillebon, Kevin Bishop, Federico D'Anna, Christian Pagh, Cristina Brondo, Barnaby Metschurat, Wladimir Yordanoff, Irène Montalà, Iddo Goldberg

Advance ticket sales

• Online: www.wiesbaden.de/caligari (opens in a new tab)
• Tourist Information, Marktplatz 1, Tel. 0611 1729 930. Mon to Sat 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Box office at the Caligari (except during festivals). From April 2, daily from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• or half an hour before the start of the event

Moderator: Eric Marr

Politically controlled media, conspiracy theories, and historical falsification: in "Dissident," Michal Hvorecký highlights the threats to democracy. After several novels and short stories, the Slovak author is now publishing his first non-fiction book and, at the same time, his first book written in German, in which he traces Europe's path after the fall of the Iron Curtain through his own biography. In it, he weaves his own experiences with a razor-sharp view of the political present, the fragility of democracy, and the new resistance fighters of the 21st century. He underscores the dissident legacy of the Velvet Revolution of 1989 and makes an all the more vocal appeal to actively oppose the new shift to the right and to fight passionately for a democratic Europe.

MICHAL HVORECKÝ was born in 1976 and lives in Bratislava. He works as an author and journalist and regularly contributes to publications such as FAZ and Die ZEIT. In his home country, he is committed to protecting press freedom and fighting anti-democratic developments. He is part of the group "Arbeit an Europa" (Work on Europe), which is committed to strengthening European cohesion in a variety of ways.

ERIC MARR (moderator) worked for many years as a news editor, reporter, and correspondent for ZDF. Today, he lives and works in Germany and Czechia as a freelance presenter and journalist.