The 25th SERVAS TOWNS MEETING 2024 in Strasbourg

from Erika Cabassut

In 1998, two Servas friends Ursula Schauffele and Erika Cabassut, had the idea to create something like a Servas Towns Partnership between Frankfurt and Strasbourg.  So for the first time, a group of about 12 Servas members from Frankfurt came to Strasbourg and spend a week-end with local hosts. Other Servas friends from other towns heard about this town partnership and wanted to join, so the next years Utrecht (Netherlands), Basel (Switzerland) and Trier (Germany) also joined this partnership and the 2 towns meeting quickly changed in a 5 towns meeting and then a multiple towns meeting. . Every year, between 20-30 guests come to one of the partner-towns. The local hosts prepare a nice cultural program and everybody enjoys a good time. After some years and some rounds in the partner towns, we were looking for a new Servas town and asked our Belgian friends in Leuven who happily joined the Servas Towns meeting. So did some friends from Mainz who also joined and we met this year 2024 for the 25th Servas Towns meeting in Strasbourg, where everything began.

Although it was the 6th meeting in Strasbourg, we still could prepare a program with new high-lights. This year, we had a guided tour in the European Parliament, a boat trip around the old city of Strasbourg, a daytrip to Sélestat to visit the Humanist Library and the Abbey Church of Ebersmunster with an organ concert.

As every year, we had a great time, meeting old and new friends, exchanging and discussing, learning and discovering a lot of new things, laughing and singing.

That is what Servas is about: creating a network of friendships over the borders, meeting this friends, having good times together and keeping this wonderful memories in our minds.

Looking forward to next year and the next Servas Towns meeting.

Why don't you initiate a Servas Towns Partnership?