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"A time to make friends" – what does this actually mean for us Germans these days? Good business? No-go areas? Have a smashing party together? Hospitality is more. Hospitality is an attentive, active attitude – not to be mixed up with a distant kind of tolerance. Hospitality is a human and courageously political signal. Hospitality is kind, inviting and respectful behavior. That excludes neither a frank word nor disagreements. How can we improve the present atmosphere? How to contribute to our guests feeling good with us? How to overcome our fear of the unfamiliar? Not by getting angry at the state. Not by calling for structures to change. Not by hiding behind others. Hospitality can be learned. We can begin with ourselves. A first step ist the declaration: I am GastfreunD. Our initiative invites you to check your own attitude – the 10 maxims for good hospitality suit this purpose. Our initiative gives courage to meet with people and creates connections across cultural borders. Everybody can support the message directly by wearing the T-Shirt Let’s do it. Let’s be good hosts: Germany becomes GastfreunD. Our initiative I am GastfreunD starts before the soccer world championship but will not end with it. Hospitality is the interface between current economic, political and cultural discussions:
Germans are often viewed as thorough, proper and reliable. They are not seen as a nation easily to inspire or fire up – unless, perhaps, through soccer. The world is on the way to Germany. Millions of people will test our hospitality because we invited them to come. In Germany the world language should be hospitality. From heart to heart, full of delight, candor, curiosity, respect, courage, language competence - and free of fear. This personal statement as developed by us, I am GastfreunD, resonates a touching and connective message. The message asks for humanity and good caretaking to be taken on as a personal awareness and task. We ask our nation to resolve the focal points of existing integration problems in our civil society with more civic responsibility, care and a wide European heart. Let us begin with ourselves. Exclusion has never been of benefit to anybody, nowhere in the world. Resentments and prejudices, unchecked assumptions and ignorance often are the reasons for long lasting, more or less violent conflicts and sorrowful experiences. Quality comes from inside. Many people who have worked already for years in the sensitive and demanding services sector know this. With our initiative we wish to serve all of them as an inspiration and assistance and support their readiness to deliver. With their energy they create the rarely obvious answer to the question: What do we need to be happy? We wish to initiate a constructive debate about hospitality in Germany connected with a positive striving for more beauty and kindness in our country. In this way as many hosts as possible increase the gross product "happiness" in Germany – for themselves and for others. |
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