A timeline of UK-German Connection’s activities
It’s 15 years since UK-German Connection was formed in November 2005, following Her Majesty the Queen’s state visit to Germany the previous year. Here we look at how it all began, and some of the highlights and collaborations over the years…
UK-German Connection wurde im November 2005 gegründet, wofür ein Staatsbesuch Ihrer Majestät, Queen Elizabeth II, in Deutschland im November 2004 den Ausschlag gab. Auf dieser Zeitleiste zeigen wir, wie alles begann und stellen ein paar Highlights und Partnerschaftsprojekte vor.
We would also like to take this opportunity to say a big thank-you to our stakeholders for funding and supporting UK-German school and youth exchange and connections.
An dieser Stelle sagen wir auch ein herzliches Dankeschön an unsere Stakeholder für die Förderung der deutsch-britischen Schul- und Jugendbegegnungen!
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2020
“Das Projekt hat mir gezeigt, wie sehr sich die Menschen in ihren Emotionen und ihrer Art, diese zu zeigen und darzustellen, unterscheiden. Höhepunkt des Austauschs waren eigentlich die Momente, in denen man sich mit allen anderen zusammengesetzt und sich über die verschiedensten Dinge unterhalten hat und Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede entdeckt hat.” (Pupil, Flexible Funding Scheme)
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2019
“Ich habe gelernt mehr aus mir raus zu kommen und traue mich nun häufiger einen Austausch oder andere Dinge alleine zu machen. Ich bin selbstständiger und selbstbewusster geworden.” (German participant, Youth Seminar ‘Sustainable Consumption’)
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2018
“I really enjoyed interacting with peers with such varied cultural backgrounds. The seminar has allowed me to make so many new friends that I still keep in contact with.” (UK participant, Youth Seminar ‘Seas & Oceans’
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2017
“Today’s younger generation will determine the future of the relationship between Germany and the United Kingdom. (…) We want to intensify our governments’ efforts in order to increase the interaction between our young people. (…) We both share the ambition for a substantially larger number of young people and teachers to benefit from future exchanges, to build cultural ties and strengthen language learning.“ (Joint declaration by the German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sigmar Gabriel, and the UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson; 19 July 2017)

“(…) The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow, and we want to establish friendships between our young people that will last a lifetime.” (Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, 19 July 2017)
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2011-2016
- Launch of the School Partnership bursaries to help schools maintain their links
- Flexible Funding Scheme ‘Our Future in Europe – maintaining the UK-German connection’
- Partnership Visit Fund launched to support staff planning visits for school links
2014-2018: Flexible Funding Scheme ‘World War 1’
- Youth Seminar ‘21st century challenges and responsibilities’ – a creative media seminar on sustainability, citizenship and education
- Third edition of ‘Still & Sparkling’ youth magazine (print)
- Discover Germany! trips for lower-secondary school groups (Year 8 and equivalent), with visits to Hannover & Wolfsburg, the Ruhr area (“regeneration”) and Berlin (“accessible travel and culture”); in cooperation with the German National Tourist Office
- ‘Double Club’ German visit to Berlin where pupils from both countries connected through football, culture and language; in cooperation with Arsenal FC and Goethe-Institut London
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2005-2010
- Launch of UK-German Youth Ambassadors programme
- ‘Still & Sparkling’ youth magazine (in print format)
- FLA Ambassadors programme “goes bilateral”, with inclusion of English Language Assistants in German schools
- ‘Creative Media’ youth seminar series
- UK-German Connection took on the German Pupil Courses, the German Scholarships and Host a Teacher from Germany programmes
- UK-German Youth Council launched
- FLA Ambassadors programme launched for German Language Assistants in UK schools

- Launch of Magical Christmas Trips to Germany for primary schools and young mentors from secondary schools
- Youth event “Shape the Future” at East Hampstead Park
- Discover Germany! programme launched, in cooperation with the German National Tourist Board (Deutsche Zentrale für Tourismus)
- Grants for bilateral exchange and project activity between UK-German school and youth groups
- 7 November 2005: UK-German Connection office officially opened
- July 2005: joint statement made by Jack Straw (Foreign Secretary ) and Joschka Fischer (Außenminister)
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2004
November: Queen Elizabeth II’s state visit to Germany. A joint statement was made together with Bundespräsident Horst Köhler.
“Stereotypes wither where human contacts flourish.”
“…we should continue to encourage our young people to know more about each other’s countries.”
(HM Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of the state visit to Germany, November 2004)

„Unsere Völker verbindet ein sehr enges Verhältnis.“ (…) wir müssen daran arbeiten, “dass mehr junge Briten nach Deutschland kommen”.
(Horst Köhler, Federal President of Germany, November 2004)
