On this page:

• IBH Celebrates Fifteenth Anniversary
• One-Day Excursion to Berlin on January 16, 2008
• “Education Sets the Born in Motion”
• CDU Member of the Bundestag, Marcus Weinberg, and BAMF Officials on Visit at Osdorf
• More Recent News

IBH Celebrates Fifteenth Anniversary

With nearly 150 guests, among them staff and association members, IBH celebrated its fifteenth anniversary on September 19, 2008. The jubilee took place at the Emigration Museum Ballin Stadt at Veddel, a borough of Hamburg, and had as its theme “Migration Yesterday and Today”. It was from Ballin Stadt that five million people left Germany between 1850 and 1939 to start a new life beyond the Atlantic. Today, Germany has become a home for immigrants, and IBH has been instrumental in promoting, through its language courses, professional integration for nearly ten thousand immigrants.

A trio of wind players consisting of Uwe Peters, member of the managing board of IBH, Klaus Roemer, member of the teaching staff, and Simone Henke, manager of Henke Schulungen at Stuttgart, opened the ceremony. Amadeus Hempel welcomed the guests, gave a brief review and put the audience in the right mood for the program of the evening. Among the business partners of IBH, who delivered a message, were Elisabeth Schiwietz of the Otto Benecke Foundation, Dr. Vera Birtsch of the Department of Social Affairs of the City of Hamburg, and Wolfgang Söthe of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. Three present participants of language courses and a former student told the audience about their experiences and perspectives. The principal of IBH, Mrs. Beatrix Hösterey, spoke about trends and developments in the area of German as a Foreign Language and what it means for the students and the course curriculum.

After the speeches the guests had the opportunity to visit the exhibition of Ballin Stadt, to take a walk through the halls of the museum, and to see video films produced by students of the Public Relations Course, a new joint project of IBH and the University of Lüneburg.

A sociable atmosphere in the Hanseatic style marked the later part of the evening. A banquet was held in a reconstructed hall where once the emigrants were fed. Finally, the signal came to leave for the “great voyage.” The launch Hamburger Deern took off for a trip through Hamburg Harbour. In the starlit night the skyline of Hamburg was shining, and the lights of docks and container vessels could be seen. The harbour trip ended at midnight. This was the moment to say “goodbye” and “see you again” in five years from now at the twentieth anniversary of IBH!

More images: www.alpha-pcs.de – many thanks to Mr. Hans-Wilhelm Grossgart!

One-Day Excursion to Berlin on January 16, 2008

On January 16, 2008, an IBH integration course from Hamburg-Osdorf undertook at the invitation of CDU member of the Bundestag, Marcus Weinberg, a one-day excursion by train to Berlin to visit the government district. The course participants were accompanied by Mrs. Hösterey, the principal of IBH, Mrs. Rapsilber, the course instructor, as well as by Mrs. Thomsen and Mr. Söthe from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).

At Berlin Main Station the group was received by Mr. Wehling, an associate of Mr. Weinberg’s staff. Then the group went for a briefing to the seat of the Hamburg delegation in the Federal Capital. The briefing was followed by a guided tour and a breakfast.

The next item on the program was a comprehensive tour of the Bundesrat. At noon, they were invited for lunch at the Paul Löbe Haus.

The travel group spent the afternoon in the Reichstag Building. They had the chance to attend a plenary session of the Bundestag. The topic of the session was juvenile delinquency. One of the prominent speakers in the debate was Mrs. Renate Künast, the floor leader of the Green Party.

In the following discussion Mr. Weinberg described in detail the work load of a member of the Bundestag during a normal parliamentary week. So the visitors got a firsthand insight into the work of a politician and were able to ask many questions.

The day was completed by a virtual tour through the Reichstag Building by means of a picture presentation and a visit to the roof garden and the glass dome. From there you have not only a magnificent view over Berlin, but you can also look down into the assembly hall and watch the members of the Bundestag at work.

It was an eventful day. At 10 pm the group was back in Hamburg, somewhat tired, but full of what they had heard and seen.

“Education Sets the Born in Motion”

On January 12, 2008, an educational event under the motto “education sets the Born in motion” took place at Born Center. Twentytwo institutions and agencies were involved. IBH presented its integration courses, which are sponsored by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). Since 2005 the courses have been held on the premises of Geschwister Scholl Gesamtschule at Hamburg-Osdorf. At the exhibition stand, the immigrants could playfully test their knowledge of German and received a little surprise.

CDU Member of the Bundestag, Marcus Weinberg, and BAMF Officials on Visit at Osdorf

CDU member of the Bundestag, Mr. Marcus Weinberg, the head of his office staff, some officials of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), as well as a representative of the Red Cross visited two out of four integration courses of IBH at Geschwister Scholl Gesamtschule at Osdorf. During the discussion with the first group, an elementary course, it became clear that especially the female immigrants see the integration course as a chance to learn the language and to get acquainted with German culture. Many of them have been in Germany for a long time (some of them for twelve years), but had been so far unable to attend a language course because of family reasons or reasons which had to do with their legal status of residence.

The second group, an advanced course, had prepared a number of interesting questions which they asked the CDU politician, e.g.: “What is the origin of the Federal Eagle (the national emblem of the Federal Republic) ?” Or: How can people learn the German language, if they realize that they may be deported one day?” During a subsequent discussion on the premises of the Red Cross some other important issues were discussed, which were relevant to the integration courses.

More Recent News

More recent news about IBH are on hour news page.