In July, I met Dr Jovan Stanojević, the Bishop of Hum, Auxiliary Bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Bishop of Düsseldorf and Germany, in Düsseldorf. It was a very interesting encounter and it is very good that we continue to cultivate our relationship.

Visit to the church headquarters in Karlsruhe. Here we discussed a project “orthodox suitcase” for highschool students.

Working on the raised beds at home in the Black Forest.

Meeting day for retired international pastors at the church headquarters in Hannover - here the EKD's prayer room.

During the stay of a German visitor we went to various places: Dobanovci, Nov Sad, Kulpin, Bački Jarak. We did archive research and asked old people whether they would remember German neighbours. On the picture: the memorial site in Jarek, where some 7.000 Hungarians and Germans were buried (during the years from 1944 to 1946) in a mass grave.

Under the bridge across the Sava river twice a week this bus waits for homeless people who can take a shower as well as medical treatment. The bus is run by ADRA the social institution of the Adventist church.

The 9th biennial meeting of the European Philosophy of Science Association (EPSA) - 20-23 September 2023 - I attended several workshops and presentations at the venerable “Kolarac People's University Building” in Belgrade. 

Opening of an interesting exhibition in the gallery “KC Grad” during the “climate week”. The sculpture is made of painted pumpkins (calabashs).

A very informative meeting with the Belgrade Director of the Adventists' help organisation ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) who is responsible for the “drum o dom” bus I visited a week ago. We talked about helping people but also about the Hebrew Bible and our different church traditions. So, I learned much about the historical roots of the Adventist church movement.

After the service in the Zemun church people stayed for a snack and a chat in the garden.

In the first two weeks of October, I held my lecture at Furtwangen University, here an anniversary celebration for the citizens' bus.

The historical Zemun Synagogue is a restaurant today. The Caritas coordinator for the Balkans and I had a delicious lunch here and a wonderful talk. 

On the way to a conference in Como, Italy, I visited Zagreb and met several persons, the Caritas director as well as the ADRA director, the protestant theological centre, and a Lutheran bishop. After the earthquakes in 2021, many building got severely damaged. On the picture, we can see the scaffolded towers of catholic cathedral. 

The Lutheran church and especially the big pastor's house close by are severely damaged. 

From 18th to 22nd October I attended the “Digital Ecosystems, Blockchain Evolution, and Sustainable Transformation (DEBEST)” conference in Cadenabbia, Lake of Como. “Trust and Confidence in the Digital Age” is the title of my presentation (see also “Projects”). 

A few Germans from our Belgrade congregation and from Berlin attended the EuroLeague match FK TSC Bačka Topola vs. SC Freiburg. It was a unique experience for me. Many thanks to the president of the "Spree-Bobbele" (SC Freiburg fan club) in Berlin!

In Subotica, I met the Caritas Director Gabor Ric, who showed me his marvellous projects, one of which is the bycicle workshop, another is a great café and bakery.

In Novi Sad, there was a great music event: The youth orchestra of Kirchheim unter Teck gave two concerts. The German ambassador attended it on 29 October.

On 2 November I went to Novi Sad again and was very astonished to see that the Belgrade main station had finally be finished. In Novi Sad, I visited the Slovak Lutheran bishop Javornik for our usual talk.

That was the title of the Lecture evening at the Goethe-Institut, held by the "swimming Professor Dr. Andreas Fath from the Furtwangen University. Our congregation had invited and it was a quite successfull event.

The city of Bijeljina in Bosnia (Republika Srpska) wants to renovate the old and damaged German chruch of Novo Selo, a village close to the city. They want the church to become a concert hall after renovation. It was a very moving encounter with the mayor, a evangelical pastor and city officials who explained the whole projected.

Here one can see the church of Novo Selo which together with some 15 houses shall be renovated. I had promised to find out whether there would be members of the Danube Suebian community who might be interested in these activities. The German community of Novo Selo / Bijeljina (and also Brtko Distrikt) arrived as late as during the 1880ies in this area. Their roots were in the Banat. Thus, the history of this region is quite unique. 

Tuesday 14th of November was quite warm and sunny, so I had a delicious pizza on Republik Square in Belgrade. Many other guests enjoyed this sunny day as well.

… to welcome the winter season. This was a very nice event with “Glühwein” and christmas cookies at the Piazza in front of Radisson Old Mill Hotel. Always a good opportunity to meet people and have good conversations.

Very close to my office and flat here in Palilula is the New Cemetary (Novo Groblje). On 1st of December I went there for a walk and found the grave of Ivo Andrić and the graves of many other famous Belgrade citizens. 

A huge event on 3rd of December marked the beginning of December. As every year, the International Women's Club of Belgrade had invited to join this bazaar with many countries from all over the world presented their products, and offered their countries' cuisine.

It was quite a draughty winter's day. Inside however, it was warm and a good idea to sit together and talk with a friend.

On 10th of December we celebrated our service with Holy Eucharist in Zemun. Two candles are burning on the Advent wreath.

Very interesting meeting with Mrs. Anna Brtka Valent, the director of EHO (Ecumenical Help Organisation). EHO runs several projects in different realms of society. You find more informations about the activities here: www.ehons.org. 

President Aleksandar Vučić visited the headquarter of the Slovak protestant church in Serbia. He received the order of the first degree of the Slovak Evangelical a.b. Church from the hands of Bishop Dr Jaroslav Javornik. For me, it was a great surprise - I was there by chance.

Information lesson in the German school - students had prepared twelve interesting questions. Image rights: “Deutsche Schule Belgrad”.

Many thanks to Vienna: Marcus Renn (from "Ritsch&Renn") has allowed me to include this year's Christmas greeting on the homepage. Years ago I was allowed to use one of the caricatures from the "Schlagseite" of the computer magazine c't in the Christmas vespers and so I ended up on their mailing list, see also the homepage of the Belgrade parish: www.ekibel.org.

Translation of the image text: 
“The earth is going down. The first trees leave the sinking ship, while captains all over the world are quickly smashing their heads. Ritsch and Renn would like to do something about it, but unfortunately you can't redraw the world. We still wanted to send a signal of anger. That's why we hid St Nicholas' fluffy winter boots. Merry Christmas!”