After a reception by the Lord Mayor Hans-Jürgen Fip for the delegates, the 26th International Hansa Convention 2006 began with a grand opening show on the Market Square. The guests were greeted at the historic site in front of the Marienchurch and the town hall by music from the composer Axel Goldbeck. In a dialogue with music a Horn Fanfare with 50 horn-players from Hansa towns a light-show from the effect-artist Thorsten Vorkefeld was performed. The Hansa Convention was opened by the President of the Federal Council of Germany, Harry Peter Carstensen and Bernd Saxe, President of the Hanseatic League, and Lord Mayor Hans-Jürgen Fip.
Cultural Programme
Concerts
Opening show “Hansa Lights”
Pilgrimages to Lübeck
Pilgrimages to Lübeck was composed especially for the Hansa Convention by church music director Carsten Zündorf (St. Marien), an evening music with composers from german hanseatic cities hosted by Dietrich Buxtehude, was performed successfully in the fully occupied St. Marien church.
Concert with the Chamber Orchestra Greifswald and the Symphony Orchestra of the Music and Art School Osnabrück
The Hansa Horn Ensemble under the direction of Eckard Schulz (Greifswald) and Heiko Maschmann (Osnabrück) presented modern and classical music from Handel’s Fireworks Music to film music from “Lord of the Rings”.
8th Symphony Concert with the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra
The Latvian violinist Baiba Scride is a star from a city in the centre of the Old Hansa. Since her performance at the Salzburger Festspiele, Baiba Scride is a star among the younger generation of violinists. She performed under the conduction of Tonu Kaljuste/Estonia.
Concert with music by Edvard Grieg
The city of Bergen brought a young and talented pianist to Osnabrück: the 15 year old Christian Hundsnes Grøvlen from the Grieg Academy in Bergen. He performed at the new cultural centre of Osnabrück, the Luther House, in front of 300 guests with pieces by Grieg. The programme was amended by the Academic Male Voice Choir from Bergen.
Organ concerts
In the churches St. Katharinen (Organist: Hartmut Strum, Herford), St. Johann (Organist: Mrs. Bulaca, Riga) and Dom (Organist: Gerhard Kaufeld, Greifswald together with the Osnabrück Youth Choir under its conductor Johannes Rahe) organ concerts were offered to the public with different resonance.
Street Culture: Swing in the city
During the 4 days of the Hansa Convention the visitors enjoyed a colourful programme presented on 5 different stages. 50 cultural groups including more than 100 artists from the trading area of the Hanseatic League delivered a multifaceted programme from national folklore and jazz to shanties. Amongst other street-theatre-performances the appearance of the “Danziger Goldwasser” of the “Theatre for special occasions” was one of its highlights. (Coordination: FoKuS).
Night of Culture: On the same wavelength!
The motto of the 6th Osnabrück Night of Culture was in keeping with the 26th International Hansa Convention. The highlight of this night was the “wave symphony” by Willem Schulz, a composer from Melle, which was accompanied by a multimedia dialogue between sound, pyrotechnics and light effects. More than 120 unique cultural attractions were to be discovered during a walk along the city centre that night. Many cultural institutions like Museums, galleries and cultural centres took part in that cultural show, that went until well into the night. A children’s fête, a pirate’s treasure hunt and other exciting events guaranteed that even the smallest visitors had a culturally stimulating time. The Night of Culture presented Osnabrück as a town of an attractive cultural life to its visitors.
Excursions and Guided city tours
To the attendants of the 26th International Hansa Convention 3 thematic excursions were offered to the Countryside of Osnabrück. 110 guests attended.
During the Hansa Convention 6 guided tours took place: 2 in English and 4 in German language, 103 applied in advance. Due to the flexibility of the contracted providers “Stadtführergilde” and “ZeitSeeing” many more tickets were booked spontaneously on location. Altogether 179 guests appreciated the offer of a guided city tour.
Exhibitions
Historical
zones – Osnabrück and the Hanseatic League
Exhibition
on the history of the Hanseatic League, conceived by the Interdisciplinary
Institute for the Cultural History of Early Modern Times, the University
Library Osnabrück and the State Archive, Osnabrück.
European
Media Art Festival: //SMART ART
This
exhibition of contemporary media art was extended over its usual term until the
Hansa Convention.
ENCOUNTER –
Artists from the city of Greifswald
present themselves
4 Artists –
4 Positions
Silvia
Dallmann, Nils Dicaz, Lucia Schoop, Karin Wurlitzer
Netherlands Waterland
Selection
of oil paintings and graphics from the Knecht-Drenth collection of the Museum of History
in Deventer
Lemgo
- an old Hansa town introduces herself
Exhibition
with large photos of the 800 year old historical city centre of Lemgo
Inspired by
Youth
Exhibition
of the youthHansa network documenting its development
“Weltraumwetter”
– Storms from outer space
Exhibition
from the partner city of Greifswald
