31 May 2026, reading time: 3 minutes
A little green dragon stands guard over the Slovenian beer tasting, the aroma of fresh crêpes – a tribute to our French friends from Saint-Florent – wafts through the Europe Day celebrations, and the first conversations about France, Austria and Slovenia are taking place in front of the new pavilion walls. Anyone who stops by the stand of the Association for the Promotion of International Relations in Neu-Anspach (VzFiB) on 9 May will quickly realise: here, Europe is not a political idea, but a living experience.
With its newly designed pavilion walls, the VzFiB is making a particularly striking impression this year. The large-format printed banners provide information about the association and Neu-Anspach’s three twin towns:
Many visitors stop to take a look, recognise familiar things, learn something new and strike up a conversation with the association’s members. The new display areas show at a glance what the association has stood for for more than four decades: fostering international friendships, bringing people together and making Europe a tangible part of everyday life.
In addition to the popular crêpes, it is the beer tasting in particular that attracts numerous guests. The beer on offer comes from the historic Slovenian brewery Laško, whose home region lies just a few kilometres from Neu-Anspach’s twin town, Šentjur.
In keeping with the theme, a small dragon adorns the stand. It serves as a reminder of Slovenia’s many dragon legends and attracts curious glances, particularly from children. At the same time, it serves as a bridge to the upcoming citizens’ exchange: just one week after Europe Day, a delegation from Neu-Anspach will travel to Šentjur to spend a few days there with friends from Slovenia and France. This gives visitors in Steinbach a little taste of the host country for this year’s citizens’ exchange.
Time and again on this day, we see what Europe is all about: people strike up conversations, share experiences and discover what they have in common. This is precisely what the VzFiB is committed to. The association promotes international relations between the residents of Neu-Anspach and the people in the partner towns. Town twinning is not merely administered, but actively lived out – through citizens’ exchanges, youth projects, contacts between clubs and joint events. The fact that such encounters have an impact is demonstrated by the trinational citizens’ meeting taking place in Šentjur a few days later. There, people from Neu-Anspach, Saint-Florent-sur-Cher and Šentjur come together, forge new connections and deepen existing friendships. Many of these encounters give rise to bonds that last for years.
Europe Day in Steinbach makes it clear: Europe does not begin in Brussels or Strasbourg. Europe begins where people engage in conversation, learn from one another and share common experiences. The VzFiB is delighted by the huge interest in Europe Day, the many conversations at the stand and all the visitors who got to know Europe a little better on this day. Because it is precisely these encounters that bring Europe to life – in a personal, warm and boundless way.
