It was a cultural celebration for us. On May 25, the event “Nachbarn bei Nachbarn” took place in the Boitzenburg church “St. Marien auf dem Berge.” We, the UMBRUCH Group, had the privilege of hosting the day together with the Stiftung Zukunft Berlin and will remember it fondly.

Since 2013, the Stiftung Zukunft Berlin has organized readings in Brandenburg village churches. The goal of the event series is to bring together Berlin and Brandenburg neighbors through culture and to promote exchange between the city and the surrounding countryside. For the day in Boitzenburg, all guests agree: we achieved this goal.

Up to 50 visitors attended. Many of them arrived in the morning to be guided through the mill grounds by the founder and managing director of the UMBRUCH Group, Daniel Haver, where the future KLOSTERPARK Boitzenburg is being developed. A highlight was the mill tour led by museum miller Martin Joost, including a demonstration of the old milling technology. After that, everyone felt that every effort is worthwhile to preserve such places as museums and prepare them for the future.

The subsequent town tour with architect Carsten Frerich brought the history and charm of Boitzenburg to life once again and was the perfect introduction to the main program: the reading by author Holger Siemann from the book “Drei Stunden hinter Berlin. Briefe aus dem Vikariat.” by Heinrich Wolfgang Seidel. Musically accompanied by the Boitzenburg church choir Cantores and organist Adrian Rovatkay, it was a wonderful event in a beautiful location.

Before heading to the Gasthof zum grünen Baum for neighborly conversation over coffee and cake, Daniel Haver received an old mill window from Prof. Dr. Hubertus Fischer, Honorary President of the Theodor Fontane Gesellschaft and supporter of the “Nachbarn bei Nachbarn” event series, at the conclusion of the reading. As a thank you for this day and for the many joint events that still lie ahead of us.

We, as the UMBRUCH Gruppe, can only return our thanks. Thank you to the Stiftung Zukunft Berlin for their ongoing commitment and to all guests who did not let the weather stop them. Thank you for the opportunity to make a small contribution to the exchange between Berlin and Brandenburg.

We continue to work on the concept and completion of KLOSTERPARK Boitzenburg. To bridge the time until the opening with culturally valuable experiences, we recommend visiting the upcoming “Nachbarn bei Nachbarn” events, which we are happy to reference here: stiftungzukunftberlin.eu/aktuelles