The blue and white Greece flag flies alongside the German flag in the wind, which offers a pleasant cooling off at the Greek festival. Blue and white: these are the colors of the day on the Haarer Anger between the Poststadel and the Bürgerhaus on Sunday. On the one hand as tablecloths on the beer benches, where Greeks and non-Greeks eat their souvlaki with tsatsiki. On the other hand in the blue sky, over which the white clouds are pushing. Blue and white: the colors of the Greek and Bavarian flags, symbolizing a 200-year-old friendship. This began with the Bavarian Prince Otto in 1832 when he set out from Mirabell Palace in Salzburg to become King of Greece. “Since then, Bavaria has had the y in its name,” says Apostolos Kotsis, chairman of the Greek community and SPD councillor. Because until then, Baiern was written with an i. And so philhellenism, the friendship with Greece, has literally inscribed itself in Bavarian culture.
You can feel that at the festival on Sunday, while traditional music sounds from the speakers of the Greek-Bavarian live band and the Haarers enjoy Uozo and wine. “Friendship does not exist between countries and governments, but between people,” says Mayor Andreas Bukowski (CSU). And that is evident at the moment, given the amount of help that is being provided for the Ukraine refugees. The Greek community in Haar also makes its contribution by offering counseling for refugees three times a week. “Mutual help, that’s friendship across all cultures,” said Bukowski.
Former Mayor Helmut Dworzak is particularly honored
Whether Bavarian, Ukrainian or Greek: In difficult times like these, in view of the pandemic and war, it sometimes helps to get together and celebrate. Who would know that better than the Greeks, who are hit by an economic crisis. Many have emigrated to Bavaria in recent decades. Some of them have found a new home in the municipality of Haar. That’s why the festival is also a thank you to the municipality of Haar. “The entire community welcomed us so well when we were founded in 2012 under Mayor Helmut Dworzak,” says Kotsis. For this reason, former mayor Dworzak is honored by the Greek community on this day, with a laudatory speech by his SPD party friend, state vice president Markus Rinderspacher. “Because without him the club wouldn’t exist,” said Kotsis. “With this festival we want to show that we are an open community that would like to celebrate with all hairs together.”
Another honor is given to the lawyer Stavros Kostantinidis, the chairman of the Greek Academy in Munich. And pastor Kilian-Thomas Semel is said goodbye with an ecumenical service as head of the Haarer parish association. On June 1, he took over the management of the staff office for counseling and pastoral care for those affected by abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.
And those who didn’t make it to the Haarer Anger this Sunday may have a new opportunity next year. Because it shouldn’t stay with this one party. “We intend to make this an annual event,” promises Kotsis. By “we” Kotsis means himself and the around 200 members who organize their Bavarian-Greek get-together on the second floor of the Poststadel every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m receive.