Gigerbread hearts from the Diakonie featured at the Kirchentag

The 33rd Kirchentag, one of the largest traditional Christian gatherings in Europe, attended by hundreds of thousands of participants, took place in Dresden from the 1st to 5th June 2011. Presentations by organizations from abroad, included the Czech Evangelical Church, as well as its Diakonie, the second largest non-state social services organization in the Czech Republic.


The main Diakonie booth was situated directly in the center of town, not far from Semperoper. The Czech Evangelical Diakonie displayed its work there, in an honorary place, next to its German sister organizations in the so-called Diakonie Quarter.

Visitors to the Czech booth were able to observe, among other things, documentation about aid to flood victims, as well as other displays and videos such as "Open to Seniors". Younger visitors could test their knowledge about the Czech Republic on line, and were able to view demonstrations of simulated operations of the program "Lifetool" and other equipment.
A corner of the booth had wooden blocks for the youngest visitors.


The general symbol and theme of the Kirchentag was - the heart -. This could be not only appreciated, but also literally tasted by visitors to the booth. These traditional gingerbread hearts were decorated with the words Kirchentag 2011 and produced specifically for this purpose, by clients from sheltered workshops in Terezin and Sobeslav.


In addition to the display booth, the Czech Diakonie also contributed a cultural program in the form of several groups of girls from the dance group Jilestar. They were from the Diakonie center in Vsetin and with performed Romany dances. They were rewarded them enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Pavel Hanych