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Essen launches Capital of Culture programme in the snow

Other News Materials 9 January 2010 21:42 (UTC +04:00)
The German city of Essen formally launched a year of exhibitions, performances and concerts across the Ruhr area amid snowy winter weather on Saturday, after the region was awarded European Capital of Culture for 2010.
Essen launches Capital of Culture programme in the snow

The German city of Essen formally launched a year of exhibitions, performances and concerts across the Ruhr area amid snowy winter weather on Saturday, after the region was awarded European Capital of Culture for 2010.

A total of 53 towns in Germany's former industrial heartland share the designation with the Hungarian town of Pecs and Istanbul in Turkey.

Throughout 2010, up to 5 million people are expected to attend 2,500 cultural events across the Ruhr area, which experienced its heyday in the days when it was the centre of Germany's coal and steel industry.

"A dream has come true," said the Premier of North Rhine- Westphalia Juergen Ruettgers at the opening ceremony. The title of Culture Capital was a lucky strike for Essen and the region, he added.

Events throughout the year include a performance of Homer's Odyssey, staged in six parts, on six different stages, and the world's largest banquet, for which a 60-kilometre stretch of motorway will be blocked off.

On June 5, thousands of musicians will simultaneously perform the same song in towns across the region, and in October lullabies from around the world will be performed.

Numerous exhibitions and other cultural events will run throughout the year, to profile the transformation taking place in the former coalmining region.

"Throughout Germany, we are still underestimated. That is to change," said Fritz Pleitgen, who heads the Ruhr region's Capital of Culture programme.

The Ruhr also stands to benefit from around 300 projects, including new museums or expanding existing cultural centres, at a cost of around 62 million euros (89 million dollars) of public funding, plus private donations.

German President Horst Koehler and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also braved the snow to speak words of welcome at the opening event.

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