Overview
- The German president said millions of volunteers form a democratic backbone and called for sustaining and expanding their ranks.
- He met six members of Hoyerswerda’s youth city council, describing the body as a school of democracy that enables young people to effect change.
- Steinmeier visited the volunteer repair collective Brigade Instandsetzung, where retirees fix residents’ electrical items at no cost, and he attempted to repair a table lamp.
- He explained that the outreach series was created as social fissures widened and emphasized the need for places where different generations can talk to one another.
- Using Hoyerswerda’s long decline as context, he noted East–West differences can be smaller than assumed while urban–rural gaps can be larger, a focus of his rural visits.