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Post photo: Discussion group | © Thomas Heiligenmann

After the Hertenstein talks is always before the Hertenstein talks. In between there is always the follow-up and preparation of the respective discussions. We were there for the current preparation and follow-up Sandra Schuhmacher from the EUROPA-UNION federal association and with the state manager Bettina Kummerle put together a good team.

The first feedback from the participants is currently coming in and we should receive the first minutes of the conversation shortly. There has been a not insignificant change in recent years, as initially all discussion groups were recorded, which has no longer been the case since the 6th Hertenstein Discussions. But here too, it is ultimately the will and responsibility of the respective participants in the conversation; You can provide incentives, but you can't force them - at least you shouldn't do that.

The feedback received so far is very positive. There were also two press articles, one from SWR and one in the Heilbronner Stimme. Unfortunately, neither journalist made use of the press kit provided; this certainly wouldn't have hurt their reporting. But this is only in passing, because we can be very happy that at least two media outlets reported on the talks.

The venue was rated very positively. With the Park Hotel We made a lucky move because the participants were able to reach it easily by car and, after a bit of searching by the strangers, were also able to use a parking space in the underground car park. It was even easier for participants to reach the conference venue using public transport, as both the city buses and the tram stop in front of the hotel. And the pedestrians were able to combine their “arrival” with a walk through the city garden, in the best weather. Unfortunately, Heilbronn has the disadvantage that our city is not very easy to reach by train from outside, and so we had to organize transport to and from the airport at short notice. However, this only affected those participants who came from other (federal) states and had not planned to travel by car from the start.

The hotel rooms and conference rooms were praised by all participants without exception, as was the service used by external guests from Friday to Sunday. And we organizers can only praise the staff who looked after us - it was really fun working with the Parkhotel team!

The whole thing was crowned by the conference catering, which was excellent from breakfast to late dinner. In addition, there was also a visit to the hotel bar 10 / 42 for the tireless ones. And here too we only received extremely positive feedback. What made me particularly happy was that our participants from Belgium, France and Switzerland were also very pleased with the entire setting.

But the best thing about this year's talks were once again the participants! And I can assume that many of them have now become real “Hertensteiners”. At this point I'll take the opportunity to spontaneously mention a few of them. Andrea and Kai Barth For example, both of them took part in the talks for the third time this year, took extra vacation and traveled from North Rhine-Westphalia for a whole weekend at their own expense. Or Thomas Mann, former member of the European Parliament, who I have known well for a few years, although I argued with him most of the time about the content, sometimes really heatedly. He came to these discussions from Hesse and contributed to the discussions without any ifs and buts and in a very beneficial way for everyone involved. Or the Hertensteiners from Heilbronn, who like Dr. Vasillios Vadokas, Leonard Reinwald, Wolfram Rudolph, Herbert Steudel, Barbara and Roland Baier or Franz Schirm been there from the start. You can also include external participants like this Florian Ziegenbalg, peter schulze or Manuel Schob do not forget!

I was also very happy about that Friedlinde Gurr-Hirsch — former district chairwoman of the EUROPA-UNION Heilbronn — was on board again and, when we had to improvise again, skilfully took over a discussion group. Also Evelyne Gebhardt Don't miss the opportunity to talk to the participants and, where necessary, to act as a moderator.

Already since the 2nd Hertenstein talks Christian Moss and Prof. Dr. Walther Heipertz on board and are now one of the permanent discussion group moderators, as well Michael George Link MP and Josip Juratovic MdB, these two from the beginning.

I was even more pleased that when the European focus was also directed on the municipalities, the municipal councils Tanja Sagasser-Beil, Nico Weinmann MdL and Herbert Burkhardt agreed to be available to discuss with the participants. Nico Weinman MdL also took over the co-moderation of another discussion group.

These participants alone ensured that there was more than enough European expertise available for the discussions, but this time it was also ensured that other experts were included. So we brought in other experts, including for future discussions dr Lana Mayer and Simone Schmidt from Stuttgart. In addition, the MEPs Prof. Dr. Rene Repasi from Karlsruhe and the political scientist dr Caroline Rueger from the University of Würzburg. The French Consul General Gaël de Maisonneuve, Dr. Jean Marsia from Belgium and the Swiss Florian Schmid ensured that our neighbors’ perspectives were also heard.

All in all, 80 self-confessed Europeans once again spent a whole day discussing the current affairs and future of Europe and every single participant was an asset to the Hertenstein discussions!

The Parkhotel Heilbronn provided exactly the right setting so that we can now begin preparations for the 8th Hertensteiner Talks on Saturday, September 21, 2024, which we are planning for 100 participants this time.

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