Esperanto World Congress
The Esperanto World Congress (Universala Kongreso , UK for short ) is the most important single Esperanto event and is held in a different city every year. The organizer is the Esperanto World Federation ( Universala Esperanto-Asocio ) together with a local committee. In addition to a cultural program, there are meetings of organs of the World Federation, but also of other Esperanto organizations.
history
The first Esperanto World Congress took place in the northern French city of Boulogne in 1905 , on the private initiative of the lawyer Alfred Michaux. As a result, a decision was made beforehand on the following congresses at the congress. In 1923, an umbrella organization took on the task of inviting people to and overseeing the congresses. In 1933/34 the Esperanto World Federation finally became this umbrella organization.
Even before the Second World War , the World Federation supported the Congress through a mediator who helped the respective congress committee on site. After the war, this was finally institutionalized under the name "permanent secretary of the Congress". Until 1961 the secretary always lived and worked at the respective congress location, since then he has been integrated into the main office of the World Federation in Rotterdam.
Because of the world wars, the congress could not be held in the years 1916-1919 and 1940-1946, so the 90th Congress in Vilnius in 2005 was not the centenary, despite the centenary. So far, the Congress has seen a total of over thirty different countries. Most of the congresses took place in Europe, and after Washington (1910), San Francisco (1915), Tokyo (1965) and Portland (1971) it was not common practice until the 1980s that the congress takes place outside of Europe approximately every three years .
The congress has so far been held nine times in Germany , if the one in Gdansk is included: 1908 in Dresden , 1923 in Nuremberg , 1927 in Gdansk , 1933 in Cologne , 1951 in Munich , 1958 in Mainz , 1974 in Hamburg , 1985 in Augsburg , 1999 in Berlin .
The congress also took place four times in Austria (1924, 1936, 1970 and 1992, each time in Vienna ) and six times in Switzerland (1906 and 1925 in Geneva , 1913, 1939 and 1947 in Bern and 1979 in Lucerne ).
program
The congress is traditionally framed by an opening and a closing session, with a pre-program on the day before the actual start and the opening session divided into a more official part (with speeches by ambassadors etc.) and a more "internal" part is.
The Komitato , the association council of the Esperanto World Federation, meets almost throughout the entire congress . The board also has meetings and answers the congress participants about its work in a question time; the same goes for the general director and the editor of the association magazine. In addition, many other international Esperanto organizations take the opportunity to hold a meeting or the annual general meeting, for example the professional associations of Esperanto- speaking doctors or stamp collectors, or the Esperanto Academy .
In a themed program, the congress will discuss current issues of the Esperanto language community or international relations as a whole. In the "Congress University" scientists give technical lectures on Esperanto and in the Esperantological Conference works on the language and history of Esperanto are presented.
The cultural program includes theater performances, book presentations, cabaret, concerts and a ball. Participants can get to know the host country on excursions.
Attendees
Usually between 700 and 2500 Esperanto speakers from over sixty countries take part in the Esperanto World Congress. The smallest Esperanto World Congress to date took place in San Francisco during the First World War in 1915 (163 participants), the largest so far on the occasion of the centenary of the Esperanto language in 1987 in Warsaw (5,946 participants).
Children's Congress
The International Esperanto Children's Congress (in Esperanto: Internacia Infana Kongreseto de Esperanto , IIK) always takes place at the same time as the Esperanto World Congress. It is aimed primarily at children between the ages of 6 and 14. Although the main target group is children who already have some knowledge of Esperanto, those who are still learning Esperanto can also take part.
The first children's congress took place in Munich in 1951 on the initiative of Siegfried Ziegler , Josef Moravec and Margarete Klünder. At first the children's congress took place irregularly; now it is set up at almost every Esperanto World Congress.
World Youth Congress (IJK)
Since 1938 there has also been a World Youth Congress (Internacia Junulara Kongreso , IJK for short ) , which usually takes place on the same continent, sometimes in the same country as the Esperanto World Congress. It is organized independently by the World Esperanto Youth TEJO and, according to their information, usually has several hundred participants.
So far, the following IYC have taken place in the German-speaking area: 1950 in Konstanz , 1953 in Wörgl , 1956 in Büsum , 1958 in Homburg , 1970 in Graz , 1974 in Münster , 1985 in Eringerfeld Castle near Geseke, 1996 in Güntersberge and 2015 in Wiesbaden .
List of venues
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Web links
- UEA.org: Kongresoj (Esperanto)
- The Esperanto World Congresses in the Image Archive Austria
Individual evidence
- ↑ Listo de Universalaj Kongresoj
- ↑ On August 3, 1922, the participants in the International Esperanto Congress, including representatives from almost all European countries, met in Lübeck for an Esperanto Congress. From there they started the journey by ship to Finland.
- ^ Rubric: Chronicle. In: Vaterstädtische Blätter , year 1921/22, No. 23, edition of August 13, 1922, p. 92.