You are travelling to Ludwigsburg (regional train), where your are going to experience the Franco-German Institute, meeting its researchers and exploring the library and documentation centre and different exhibitions and interactive materials.
The Franco-German Institute (dfi) is a centre of excellence devoted to research and documentation on contemporary France and Franco-German relations within the European context.
Its dedicated formats allow the experience of Franco-German and European “reconciliation”: testimonies of individual citizens, written sources, video and audio sources allow to grasp individuals’ motivation to cross borders, overcome enmity, create lasting friendships and relations.
Get to know more about TUM Europe Dialogue Series 2026
When?
May 22, 2026
9:45 am
-
4:00 pm
Who?
Campus Living
Detail Information:
Testimonies (videos) of the first Franco-German town twinning between Ludwigsburg and Montbéliard (1950):
- the first encounters, the first Franco-German soccer match after the war,
- dealing with crises (meeting of former Waffen-SS in Ludwigsburg)
- Individual fates (Jean-Michael Kahn, the last survivor of the Jewish community of Montbéliard), historical moments (General de Gaulle's speech to German youth in Ludwigsburg) and personal commitment (Alfred Grosser as a witness of the century)
With educational support from the dfi, you are going to contextualise the individual fates presented, This allows to gain a better understanding and of the associated narrative of "reconciliation".
Overcoming and containing the Franco-German conflict was and remains the most important single justification for the European project: After three devastating wars, two of them “World Wars”, both countries and their societies started a process of “reconciliation”. The encounter of citizens and the shaping of a “transnational civil society” went hand in hand with European integration, leading to today’s European Union. But who were the driving forces behind this evolution? What were the motivations of individual citizens? And is reconciliation a permanent process or an acquis? Can it be transferred to other conflict ridden regions?
Please note: The registration form asks about your proficiency in German and French. This is because the original sources are in German or/and French.