On Tuesday afternoon, 23 May, the final and concluding Fugger Forum took place at OLVCplus. During this event, the four groups of students who had each participated in a previous mobility had the opportunity to share and relive their experiences. They spoke in chronological order, using PowerPoint presentations: Augsburg (Germany), Sterzing (Italy), Almadén (Spain) and Banská Bystrica (Slovakia).
Listening to these four stories and completing them with the information from the mobility in Antwerp, all the pieces of the puzzle came together very nicely. We learned more about the historical figure Jakob Fugger in all his facets and could also see which influences his mines still have on the landscape today.
What also stood out, was that every mobility challenged the students to broathen their horizon and open up to another country and culture with its own customs. This isn’t always easy, but every one of the students gave it their all and looks back on the week with grateful memories and forged friendships for life.
During a stopover in Vienna on our way to Banska Bystrica, we read “Vermehrt Schönes”, which is what we wish to emphasise as well: each of us experienced unforgettable things that touched him or her deeply. We want to cherish these moments and continue to propagate them.
We would like to thank Europe for making this project possible and we end by paraphrasing Robert Musil: Was bleibt von Erasmus? – Wir als Veränderte bleiben…