Shared memories, extending an united et peaceful Present – Auvergne and Thuringen Erasmus Project

Project Title

Shared memories, extending an united et peaceful Present – Auvergne and Thuringen

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; Regional dimension and cooperation

Project Summary

The project “Shared memory for extending a unified and pacified present – Auvergne and Thuringia” must allow students from two countries, Germany and France, to address and understand better the proceedings of the second global conflict and its consequences in the reconciliation attempts that came out of it or in the will to develop Europe for the first time, prelude to a Community that became the Union that we know nowadays.
Auvergne and Thuringia are territories linked by historical similarities and resemblances that we wish to bring to light through this project of school exchange. The two schools from the two involved territories have known likenesses in the events that have brought their people into conflict since the early 1900s, national and international conflicts that found a national and international solving carried by a will of reconciliation after the second world conflict.
So, the project relies on a work of comparison of the fate of the people of those territories at different levels: local, national and international. Starting in the cities of Bad Frankenhausen and Cusset, municipalities of the collaborating schools, we wish to work with German and French students on the living conditions of men and women at war (soldiers at the front or prisoners in camps) and civilians (in areas of bombing or in free then occupied France). The crossover study of their nearby towns, Weimar (proclamation in 1918 and fall of the German republic in 1933) and Vichy (headquarters of the French State from 1940 to 1944), will also allow the two groups of participants to learn the unique role of the two cities during the interwar years and the second world war since they became ephemeral “capitals” of their respective country. Finally, the European construction for the making of union and friendship of the people will be taught thanks to an observation work of the trade policies between our lands of Auvergne and Thuringia that have managed to establish agreements of strong and renewed partnerships, in the spirit of the Élysée Treaty.
Thanks to two moments of meeting, in November 2019 in Cusset during a ceremony to pay tribute to the 62 former Cusset’s middle school’s students who died during the three conflicts of the twentieth century, and in April 2020 in Bad Frankenhausen, students will be able to keep values of Peace, Reconciliation and European Construction alive by commemorating, telling stories and exchanging together on what opposed them yesterday and what unites them today in the history of their countries. Therefore, we wish to strengthen the sense of belonging to the European community by relying on the improvement of the participants’ knowledge and the reinforcement of these binational friendly ties.
The teaching, financial or administrative participants of the two partner schools, that have been involved for several years in the direction of national or European projects with regard to one or more of the priorities agreed upon for this very project, have acquired competences that can be mutualised in order to benefit to the other project members. This project aims to sharing times of Memory between formal or associate partners (Doctor Ulrich Anhnemann of Bad Frankenhausen Panorama Museum or the Centre international d’études et de recherches chaired by Michel Promérat). The local impact expected is to strengthen already existing links between the partner institutions, their native region by including local representatives and amplifying the European friendly ties beyond already existing twinning schemes.
A European-scale exchange, on the essential thematic of Memory, Peace, Reconciliation and European construction, must allow all of the participants to keep long-term benefits, to enable future generations to go on with this work on Memory in honour of all men and women that died during the conflicts of the twentieth century, to show that it is possible to overcome the hatred between peoples and therefore estimate the importance of Peace, Reconciliation and the Construction of a united Europe, guarantee of strong ties between the people of its territories. Each student thus needs to be able to comprehend, prepare and build their academic career, their work and personal future by developing a more positive attitude towards the European project and the values of the European Union. It seems essential to us in order to follow the steps of the Fathers of Europe and perpetuate their ideas that must always guide every European generation in the maintenance and reinforcement of their peaceful relations.

Project Website

https://larbaudmemoirespar.wixsite.com/memoirespartagees

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 32866 Eur

Project Coordinator

LYCEE VALERY LARBAUD & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Kyffhäuser-Gymnasium