Press releases

• This year marked the 25th anniversary of the award, and for the first time, young adults from the VHS College also took part.
• 57 teenagers and young adults were honored for their above-average social commitment, outstanding musical, artistic or cognitive achievements.
• Many of the young people are involved in various fields at the same time.

It was an anniversary: yesterday (Thursday, November 14) was the 25th time that the city of Aachen had invited pupils to the town hall to be honored for their above-average social commitment, outstanding musical, artistic or cognitive achievements. The young people are honored individually, but sometimes also as a group. They are nominated by their schools and then selected by a jury. "The event is always something very special for me, because it is important that you and you exist," emphasized Heinrich Brötz, the city's alderman for education, youth and culture, in his welcoming address. The teenagers and young adults are important for the community at their schools and often also beyond for the community of the city. "Commitment at school is often the nucleus for what happens later in the city," Brötz is convinced.

In his welcoming address to the 57 honorees, the alderman also took a long way back in history, to the year 1944. He recalled Aachen as the first major city in Germany to be liberated from the Nazi dictatorship, months before the war finally ended. Young men aged 16 or 17 had been sent to war shortly before: "People your age.". But, according to Brötz: "For seven or eight months, liberated Aachen was also a kind of democratic laboratory." Here he sees a clear bridge to the students' commitment, which is often also a "democracy laboratory". The city is also always looking for the right form of youth participation. The alderman invited the young people sitting in the Coronation Hall with their teachers, head teachers, school politicians and parents: "Get in touch with us, with the city, with local politics. Tell us where, on which topics and in what form you want to have a say?"

A certificate and vouchers
Then it was time to hand over the certificates and, even more importantly, as Brötz emphasized with a wink, the gift bag well filled with vouchers. And as in the last 24 years, the 57 students were impressed by what they were honored for. Because in many cases, it is not just about musical, cognitive, artistic achievements or social commitment alone. Many of the young people are also active in multiple ways as class representatives, in the student council, in tutoring, as traffic helpers at elementary school, in the school's medical service, in the organization and moderation of school festivals, on International Women's Day or simply "just" the "good soul of the school". "I think every class and every school needs such a good soul," said the alderman. This year, for the first time, not only pupils from Aachen's secondary schools were honored, but also young adults who are currently studying for an educational qualification at the VHS Aachen college.