Freundeskreis Polozk

It was founded on the initiative of city councilor Rotraut Binder and citizen Karl Bachmann with the intention to establish a club to stimulate Friedrichshafen committed citizens to organize the new urban partnership between Friedrichshafen and the Belarusian city Polack.

In 1985, the regional council of Friedrichshafen identified Polack as a city in the Soviet Union with a comparable degree of destruction during the second world war and linked with it in 1990.[1][2] In 1995 the association was founded. The demand was for war reparations. In 1996[3] and 2004[3] the group traveled to Polack, In 2011 Project Clear water Polozk was conducted.[4] In 2013 Project 'Hört mit' ( hearing aids for Polack) was conducted.[5] In 2015 25 Jjähriges Jubiläum der Städtepartnerschaft in Polozk was conducted.[6] In 2018 the group cycled to Polack.[7]

Friedrichshafen's other sister cities are Sarajevo/Bosnia and Herzegovina, Saint-Dié-des-Vosges/France, Delitzsch/Germany, Imperia/Italy and Peoria/Illinois/United States.

Because of the complex political situation and dictatorial leadership of president Alexander Lukashenko,[8] European Union sanctions and the German government,[9] and political pressure on Russian and Belarusian governments, the Minsk administration surrounding Lukashenko is fostering urban partnerships.[10]

The association serves a supra-regional function for the projects they organise.[11] The commitment was affirmed at the Sustainability Conference at Minsk, in June 2018.[12] The trip covered. 2200 km in 10 days on a folding bike.[13]

Freundeskreis Polack organized Warm Winter, Meeting lonesome people, Woman's help for women projects and supported projects together with the Belarusian association Strumok and Tschernobyl echo.[14]

Citizens of the sister cities meet with the group.[15] 13 train trips and 4 camper trips were organized since 1995.

• Official website