Dr. Peter Suren - Die Geschichte der deutsch-tonganischen Beziehungen

"140 years of friendly relations Kingdom of Tonga - Germany"

We are inviting you to this year's annual conference of the German Pacific Society for a very special occasion. This year we are celebrating the140th anniversary of friendly relations between the Kingdom of Tonga and Germany. We are marking this eventn with a special weekend from the 24 to 26 of June in Arnstadt near Erfurt. In the year 1876 a meeting between representatives of the German Empire and representatives of the Tongan Royal family took place. The result of this event played a historically significant role especially for Tonga. The mutual recognition as independent states provided the conditions for a relative ly independence of the Kingdom of Tonga in the further course of history. Unlike Samoa, Tonga was never fully colonized. But still it can be seen in the daily life of both countries the historical links to Germany, just simply by the spread of many German family names. Even after the world war II this friendship was revived for example by the visit the Tongan King in Germany and by the Treaty of 1978. In Germany still there are a lot of friends of the Kingdom of Tonga and also vice versa. We want to tell you, you are all cordially invited to celebrate this event with us. We have invited speakers, which allows us to review aspects of the history and the presence of the relations between both countries. Dear Tongans in Germany and Europe you can help this weekend to revive. Please report to germanpacific@aol.com. A cultural programme is planned and enlightens the image of Tonga here in Germany. We also will show the film "Being Bruno Banani" which portrays a German-Tongan story, that happened only during the last two years.

Unfortunately the originally planned venue Frankfurt could not be realized. Arnstadt, however situated almost exactly in the middle of Germany, has been chosen for this event and might be a suitable place for all of us. Arnstadt is the oldest town in Thuringia and also further east there are no older cities in our country. The hotel is easily accessible by train from Erfurt. Erfurt is an ICE stop on the route Munich-Berlin or Frankfurt-Dresden. By car you can reach the venue from the motorways A4 and A71. The junction of both routes is nearby. Should anyone arriving by plane, so I propose Frankfurt, from there it needs about three hours by train to reach the destination. The nearest regional airport is Erfurt where there are also some compounds.

The hotel provides single and double rooms. In combination with the registration fee the prices for the whole weekend where 2 nights hotel is included is 115 or 140 euros per person. If you do not stay over night in the hote of this event, please pay the fee of 45 euros. On the registration sheet you will find all prices and please tick your needs. Please remit the amounts at the latest by May 30, because we have to pay a deposit. It you require a different number of nights (less or more), then contact us. The preliminary program of the conference will be published soon. If can provide a contributions to the conference, please give us a report. We wish all participants a successful weekend! ... Malo aupito! For questions please contact: germanpacific@aol.com or call +49-176-36911753

printable version of this invitation
programm of the conference
enrollment form

This invitation is made by the the board of the German Pacific

Venue:
Hotel "Krone am Bahnhof", Am Bahnhof 8, D-99310 Arnstadt
www.krone-2000.de

Hier die deutsche Version dieser Einladung