Report: Meet the honourable Mayor of Tübingen, Mr Boris Palmer
On a quite nippy Thursday afternoon the Tübingen / South Africa Program (TSAP) 2012 group made their way to the grand City Hall overlooking the Marktplatz (marketplace) whilst singing some very familiar South African songs such as ‘Shosholoza’ and ‘Die Alibama’ to the German crowd and making sure the Mayor knows the TSAP 2012 group has arrived!
We were greeted by the historical building at first standing in awe of the beauty and then warmly welcomed to the vibrant city of Tübingen by the honourable Mayor, Mr Boris Palmer. Mr Palmer who is still very young and one of Germany’s youngest mayors shook our hands and found his way in the centre of the reception hall to inspire us a bit more of the beautiful and ‘green’ city. Significantly, the State of Baden-Württemberg which is one of the wealthiest of 16 states in Germany is run by the Green Party (Die Grünen). Mr Palmer spoke about politics in the city as well as how green policy is implemented in partnership with the people of Tübingen. Active citizenship is inspired by ownership and pride of ones city and land, and thus all policy proposals head directly to the people via their ward. With a mere population of 90 000, Tübingen compared to South African cities of triple the size, this job could become relatively easy as there are little objections towards green policy.
Mr Palmer is indeed a warm and friendly man whom is honoured by his citizens as he is a servant of his people. Mr Palmer who loves to use, reuse and recycle also partners with private companies to ensure that their industries are following strict energy saving and efficient means of doing business and also to encourage citizens of Tübingen to live ‘green!’
After our meeting with the mayor who took some time out of his very busy schedule running the town to meet the TSAP 2012 group, he was thanked and received a gift which he absolutely loved, we where welcome to munch on a very traditional South West German butter pretzel (Butter Brezel).
It was indeed an honour to have met Mr Palmer and be warmly welcomed to the great city of Tübingen!
Yaseen Carelse
