Almost 2000 people at the New Year’s reception in the New Town Hall
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2000 people come to the New Year’s reception of the city of Hanover
Welcome 2023: Hanover’s Lord Mayor Belit Onay (Greens) welcomed the new year with almost 2000 Hanoverians. The reception had been marked by the recent crises.
© Source: Tobias Wölki
Hanover. Serious words, high-class music and an appropriate setting: After a two-year Corona break, the city of Hanover held its New Year’s reception on Monday evening in the New Town Hall. According to the city, almost 2,000 Hanoverians came to the town hall, and many had queued at the entrance for the opening at 5 p.m. The reception was clearly marked by the international past crises. After the opening speech by Mayor Belit Onay (Greens), in which he urgently pleaded for a community based on solidarity, John Winston Berto sang John Lennon’s peace song “Imagine” with keyboard accompaniment – a real goose bumps moment for many in the quiet hall of the town hall.
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“In 2022 we proved that we can find answers to”: Mayor Be Onay (Greens).
© Source: Tobias Woelki
It was the city’s eighth New Year’s reception. The motto this year was: “I.You.WE. Hanover – social warmth and solidarity”. That was obvious: “In 2022, we identified crises, that we found answers, that the city society, aid organizations, associations and administration decided to take the decision and commit themselves to taking in and caring for refugees and implemented them,” he said Onay in his greeting. The evening is dedicated to all those who are committed to their fellow human beings in Hanover and also to those who are currently in need of social warmth and solidarity.
Ukrainian musicians play in the Hodlersaal
For the cultural program and the informative offers, many Hanoverian institutions present themselves together with the city in the new town hall. In the Gobelinsaal, the topic of homelessness was addressed – for example in the photo exhibition of Karin Powser from Hanover, who herself was homeless in the past few years. In the past year she received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. The photographer was also at the New Year’s reception.
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Folklore from the Ukraine: Refugee artist songs from their homeland played in the Hodlersaal
© Source: Tobias Woelki
In and in front of the Hodlersaal, the Ukrainian Association in Lower Saxony and the Ukraine Aid Hanover presented themselves. This mainly takes care of people in the city of Mykolaiv, with which Hanover has a solidarity partnership. There was also a play and a small folklore concert by professional musicians who had fled from the Ukraine – followed devoutly by a large number of visitors in the packed Hodlersaal.
“Hannover for Iran” appears as a joint group
The “Hannover for Iran” group was also an important part of the annual reception. It consists of students from the Leibniz University who met during the previous demonstrations in Hanover against the regime in their home country and are now appearing together as a group. “We draw attention to the plight of the people, the women, in our home country with various campaigns and advertise for political sponsorships,” said Soschia Karimi, one of the organizers.
Help for your compatriots: The group “Hannover for Iran” was only formed a few months ago, the members come from the environment of Leibniz Uni Hannover.
© Source: Tobias Woelki
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Council factions, heads of department and the mayor himself were available to answer questions from the guests in the mosaic hall and in the council chamber. There was a lot to talk about: the car-free inner city, bicycle routes, the digital town hall, inner-city trade and the future of the city in general. Other topics were the youth gang from Kronsberg and the ailing town hall in Bemerode.
How do the citizens assess the work of the mayor so far? The unanimous opinion at many tables was essentially positive, he had clearly gained in profile. Above all, Karin Haller likes Onay’s will to want to take all the citizens of this city with him. “For me, his urgent appeal in his New Year’s speech was that the city society should participate in the participation of others and thus make it possible.”