Your Majesties,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Welcome to Hamburgs City Hall. I am delighted to greet you on behalf of the Hamburg Senate.
It may surprise you, but this building is also the city hall of Swedens most southerly city. How can that be, with only 1565 Swedish residents in Hamburg? The solution to the puzzle can be found in the magazine published by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce. It granted us this title at the beginning of the year, because, as it wrote: There is no other city in Germany with so much Swedish lifestyle.
That is a wonderful tribute to our cosmopolitanism. I am delighted that you are our guests here today. Your visit is a great honor.
Hamburg and Sweden are not only geographically close. Research institutions and institutions of higher learning in both countries cooperate closely with each other. Many students from Hamburg study in Sweden, and we are happy to welcome the many Swedish students who choose to study here. Hamburg is often the starting point for Swedish companies operating in Germany for example Germanys first Clas Ohlsen store, right around the corner on Jungfernstieg.
Hamburg and Sweden also share a common interest in matters of education. We have both developed exemplary concepts which ensure that all young people receive an education that allows them to successfully enter the job market a top-priority task in light of the high rate of unemployment among the youth of many European countries. We have also found similar solutions for city planning and sustainable mobility issues some of which we explored this morning.
Hamburg and Sweden are even working with each other to discover what it is that holds the world together. Germany and Sweden provide each other mutual support in building the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund and the European X-ray laser, XFEL, in Hamburg. Sweden is also a partner in the newly-dedicated expansion of PETRA III, the worlds biggest and most brilliant storage ring light source, located on the DESY campus in Bahrenfeld.
That is, of course, more for the specialists among us. Music, however, is something for everyone. And it can be enjoyed in our new Elbphilharmonie, where the grand opening will take place on the 11th and 12th of January 2017. We look forward to greeting our Swedish friends next year in the southern-most concert hall of the North.
Thank you.
Es gilt das gesprochene Wort.