Fireside chat: 25 years of Kolping Youth Europe

Founded in 1995, Kolping Youth Europe is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2020. To connect the different generations that were active during the past quarter of a century, the board of Kolping Youth Europe invited several people that were very active in the organisation’s history. On October 17th, around 20 Kolping Youth members from all over Europe met six guests: Dagmar Kubova (Czech Republic), Saskia Aalbers-Hol (Netherlands), Robert Tezzele (South Tyrol), Galja Ieronima (Ukraine), Patrycja Kwapik (Poland), and Zdravko Isakov (Serbia).

The guests emphasized in the online meeting that the history of Kolping Youth Europe started just a couple of years after the fall of the Iron Curtain. In those times, young people on both sides of the wall did not know much about each other’s countries and Kolping Youth Europe offered a unique opportunity to change that. Getting to know more about other parts of Europe was highly interesting for young people, especially because they could receive first-hand knowledge from people engaged in their local Kolping Societies.

An important goal of Kolping Youth Europe has always been to create a network of young Kolping members in Europe and to support the cooperation between national Kolping Societies. Furthermore, the offers of Kolping Youth Europe helped to increase the capacities of the youth in each country. The guests also reported that the activities of Kolping Youth Europe did not only have positive impacts on their work for Kolping, but also on their personal development.

Additionally, the guests shared their memories from specific international events, summer camps, and youth weeks in many different countries. Based on their experience, they recommended the current generation to focus on meaningful activities and the specific characteristics of Kolping. This was nicely put in words by one of the guests: “Do something good, try it and don’t stop!”

Heinz Strässle & Sven Messing