Greetings, a speech, a slide show, music and a discussion between young people from both cities rounded off the event.

Mayor Frank Klingebiel welcomed the guests in the auditorium of the Salzgitter-Bad grammar school as well as pupils from various schools, council members and citizens. He emphasized to around 500 guests that the partnership with Gotha was 26 years old and therefore something special. The fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago was a stroke of luck in history. He recalled his own experiences as a pupil who was checked at the Helmstedt border crossing on a school trip to West Berlin. "The wall went through our fatherland," said Klingebiel. The GDR was an unjust state that prevented people from exercising their rights and trampled on freedom. The peaceful revolution and the opening of the Wall were a masterstroke of history.

Knut Kreuch, Lord Mayor of Gotha, followed on from this. He was pleased to have come back to "his friends in Salzgitter". For him personally, the opening of the Wall was a miracle. It meant freedom in all its possibilities: Freedom of the individual, of the word and of discovering the world. "We wanted to change the GDR," Kreuch recalled. This was achieved in a peaceful and impressive way. With words and candles in their hands, the people of the GDR achieved what many other countries could not. "The peaceful revolution deserved to be honored with the Nobel Peace Prize," said the Lord Mayor. He emphasized that the Germans are one people. Nevertheless, he observed that although the wall had fallen, the border was still there in some people's hearts. "That's why town twinning is so important. This is where people meet, talk to each other and get closer," said Knut Kreuch. Talking is much better than tweeting.

Dr. Hans-Jürgen Grasemann, the former head of the Salzgitter Central Registration Office, described how the authority of the state justice administration collected and documented the injustices committed in the GDR using a number of individual fates. The office began its work on November 24, 1961. The proposal to set it up was made by Berlin's mayor at the time, Willi Brandt. The aim was to name those responsible at a time when criminal prosecution was not possible, to give the perpetrators names and the victims the hope of redress for the injustice they had suffered.

Dr. Hans-Jürgen Grasemann reported on pupils who were convicted because they had made a joke at school. The former head of the registration office reported on the inhumane system in which freedom was a foreign concept. He also reported that those responsible in the GDR said in 1989 that they were prepared for anything, but not for candles and prayers. With the fall of the Wall, there was a historic opportunity for a united Germany. "We have a successful unity," Dr. Grasemann emphasized. He quoted the theologian Dr. Richard Schröder, who, when asked by a journalist when German unity would be complete, replied: "Inner unity will be complete when you no longer ask me such questions".

Questions were asked by the young people from the Gotha Children and Youth Forum, who discussed with members of the youth parliament from Salzgitter in the council chamber in the afternoon. The Children and Youth Forum (KJF) has been meeting monthly in Gotha Town Hall since January 1998. Thomas Hanl, chair of the Children and Youth Forum, explained that the forum consists of 35 members. In general, however, all children and young people can take part in the meetings and contribute their suggestions and approaches. At the end of each year, the Children and Youth Forum presents the results to the city council.

So far, the forum has campaigned for the creation of a football pitch, a skate park and a multi-sports facility, among other things. The city council then also approved these projects. Elli Gröschner, who chaired the meeting, reported that thanks to the children and youth forum, there is also a city map and a guide to authorities for children and young people. However, the young people had to learn that ideas can take a long time to be implemented. The project groups of the Children and Youth Forum develop projects and present them before financial resources are allocated to the budget. Nevertheless, the response from children and young people and their participation in the forum is good.

Lukas Gieler reported that the youth parliament in Salzgitter had only been in existence since March and was still in its initial phase. He thanked the guests from Gotha for their suggestions and ideas, which he would pass on. There are various working groups in the youth parliament in which individual topics such as bus tickets, Facebook or donation runs are discussed intensively. The young people from Gotha informed themselves about the voting system of the youth parliament and offered their support, as the young people from Salzgitter want to change their statutes on one or two points. Mayor Knut Kreuch would like to present the children's and youth forum to the young people from Salzgitter in more detail during a visit to Gotha.