Editorial Director Stefan Conradt, Colonel Olaf Tuneke, Head of the Artillery School and General of the Artillery Troops, and Lord Mayor Frank Frühauf welcomed around 450 guests to the Idar-Oberstein Exhibition Center. The entertaining event was musically framed by the Symphonic Wind Orchestra Obere Nahe (SBO), the cultural prize winner of the city of Idar-Oberstein in 2023. The orchestra, led by its conductor Jochen Lorenz, offered visitors top-class pieces of music from various genres and the traditional Radetzky March was also played at the end. The SBO was nominated for the Culture Award by Offener Kanal/NaheTV, the 2021 Culture Award winner, who demonstrated their extensive capabilities and recorded the entire New Year's reception.
In his welcoming address, Lord Mayor Frank Frühauf describes the past year as a very challenging one, but also calls on us not to be discouraged and to try to make the best of the given conditions with energy and commitment. Unfortunately, we are faced with the challenge that the city's revenue situation has deteriorated significantly and that all expenditure will have to be scrutinized for the upcoming budget, which will be drawn up in the coming weeks. Despite all this, we should not resign ourselves to the situation, but instead work hard to ensure that our city remains fit for the future.
Colonel Olaf Tuneke, the commander of the artillery school, gave the keynote speech on behalf of the three organizers. He used this for a brief assessment of the security policy situation, the significance of which was underlined by the 200 self-propelled howitzer and the Mars rocket launcher standing in front of the exhibition hall. In terms of security policy, "war is back in Europe, in our neighborhood, and we are all feeling the effects". "This will also have concrete consequences for all of us; we must invest in an efficient, modern and progressive Bundeswehr," said the colonel, describing the situation. This also includes restoring a partially lost military capability, to which good training at the artillery school and the intensification of exercise activities make a significant contribution.
The colonel is particularly positive about the cohesion between citizens and the Bundeswehr in the region, which is reflected, among other things, in the partnership that has existed since 1988 and was renewed and reaffirmed last October. The Bundeswehr also repeatedly provides support in the fight against flooding, and now Colonel Tuneke used the occasion of the New Year's reception to present three awards for this. Together with Lord Mayor Frank Frühauf, the colonel recognized the commitment of Captain Henry Bäumer, Staff Sergeant Ioannes Paises and civilian employee Günther Hehner with the "Flood Relief 2021" deployment medal of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The guests used the subsequent reception in the foyer of the exhibition hall for good conversation.