Mayor Steffens enthusiastic: Offenburg's New Year's reception of superlatives!

On Sunday, the New Year's reception of the city of Offenburg took place in the fully occupied Oberrheinhalle. The event was one of the longest of the past few years and was opened by Mayor Marco Steffens. At the opening, he used a sound collage that consisted of techno beats, basses and noises of alarms, telephones and school gongs. The motto of the reception was "focused on".

A highlight of the evening was the appearance of the young theater academy, which was referred to by the local press as a "coup". The play addressed Johannes Gutenberg and his journey through time from Strasbourg to Offenburg. It highlighted the effects of Gutenberg's invention of the movable pressure letters on the media landscape, with the associated problems such as having and propaganda fascs as well as the witch craze in Offenburg, in which women were burned as witches. The pupils drew parallels between the historical topic and current topics such as fake news and hatred on social media.

additional highlights of the event

The appearance of revolutionaries and the speeches by Mayor Gustav Rée and Franz Volk emphasized the importance of critical reading. The actors received thunderous applause, and Mayor Steffens praised the achievements of the young actors, which he referred to as "future".

Marco Steffens also outlined future projects for Offenburg, including a state garden show in the 1930s to increase the city's leisure value. As part of the application concept, the Kinzig should be designed to make the river more accessible. In addition, the creation of 1,200 new and 850 other planned residential units is being used to create affordable living space. Another topic was the discussion about the location of the Grand Clinic, in which a compatible solution for all interests is sought.

The mayor also promised a digital agenda to improve administrative processes and traffic tours. The use of artificial intelligence should optimize contact between citizens and the city administration and ensure more fluid traffic. Steffens pointed out that digitization has both risks and opportunities for inpatient retail. The university plays an important role in digitization and regional economy. It was also announced that students of the technical high school at the "Black Forest Hackathon" won the first prize with a program for determining food.

Finally, Mayor Steffens Offenburg described as a "strength center on the Upper Rhine". He emphasized the positive expectations with the motto of the reception: "It will be good", which underlines his conviction in the development of the city.