“A realistic image of Germany”

“Thanks to the many events and excursions we obtained a realistic image of Germany,” one participant said on stage in an interview with Stefan Niemann, Department Manager for International News at North German Broadcasting (NDR). In their opening remarks, the representatives of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Federal Foreign Office and the German Council on Foreign Relations emphasized that the success of the programme relies not least on the cooperation of their institutions in a public-private partnership.

The keynote speech by Henrike Zentgraf, Curator of the Memorium Nuremberg Trials, followed up on the group’s excursion one week earlier to Bavaria. Here the diplomats visited among others the Nuremberg Higher Regional Court and Courtroom 600, where the international military tribunal met after World War II. In her speech, Henrike Zentgraf talked about the relevance of the processes for the further development of public international law. During the trip, the group also stayed in Munich where the diplomats visited institutions such as the Jewish Centre, the ifo Institute for Economic Research and the Goethe-Institut. 

The Diplomatenkolleg is a unique advanced training programme organized by the Federal Foreign Office and the Robert Bosch Foundation for young diplomats from Central and Eastern Europe, the Southern Caucasus, Central Asia and China who are accredited in Germany. The programme is implemented with support from the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).