Alumni at the German Bundestag on June 07, 2018

Berlin’s Sky…

… has rarely been so blue as on this day!

The alumni once more left Bremen early in the morning to spend an interesting and fantastic day in Berlin. We started off with a stroll through the zoo. The ‘Bremen way’ is not only a symbolic one – the city of Bremen donated 30,000 young trees to Berlin for their reforestation efforts! After a few minutes, we arrived at the diplomatic quarter where Ms. Kilian, the financial speaker of the Bremen representation, was waiting for us with information on their everyday work, on the eventful history of all of their moves, but mainly on the procedure of Bundesrat bills. Our eyes and ears in Berlin work diligently and in the best networks with the other federal states. Pilot projects, such as ELFE (Simple Service for Parents), underline Bremen’s leading role not only in technical basics but also as a provider of ideas and a trendsetter for Germany. After the visit to the Bundestag, alumna of the University of Bremen and parliamentarian Sarah Ryglewski welcomed us and answered all our questions. As Carsten Sieling’s successor, she serves as our representative on the finance and petitions committees. She participates in twenty meetings in Berlin throughout the year (which carry on into the night) and is politically active in Bremen the rest of the time. What a congenial and energetic politician!

There was of course also time for a visit to the dome of the Reichstag – in glorious weather – so we were able to enjoy spectacular views.

After stopping at the Spree and some relaxing time for networking, we already had to head home. What an eventful day – filled with conversations, insights, and impressions that are so hard to come by. It is really worth planning to attend the trip next time. And, if you are still looking for a place to stay on a trip to Berlin, we would like to recommend the guest house of the diplomatic representation – especially on weekends: https://www.landesvertretung.bremen.de/ (German only).

_{Author: Manuela Brocksieper}