On May 6, 2020, in Hanoi, the Vietnam-Germany Friendship Association presented 80,000 antibacterial and anti-droplet cloth face masks to support Germany against Covid-19

In October this year, Vietnam and Germany celebrated the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a strategic partnership.

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said: “Built on the foundation of friendship, mutual trust, shared common values ​​of peace and development, the Vietnam-Germany strategic partnership has made remarkable changes in many aspects."

However, summarizing the 10 years of the Vietnam-Germany strategic partnership and 46 years of establishing bilateral diplomatic relations, it would be remiss not to mention the traditional friendship between the two peoples, which has an even longer history.

In the twentieth century, when our people were waging long battles to protect our independence and national unity, in distant Europe, German friends both in the East and in the West also raised a movement to support the Vietnamese people.

It was not only the protests of students on the streets of Germany at that time, ringing the bells against war, violence and power in Western countries --such activities also helped the German people understand more about what was happening in Vietnam.

They were also a great source of spiritual strength, helping our people stand firm and win the long arduous war, because they know that they are not alone, and there are always supportive friends everywhere in the world.

Professor Wilfried Lulei at a regular meeting of the Vietnamese-Germans Society in Berlin. Photo: WVR

Even during the fierce war going on in Vietnam, Vietnamese literary works such as The Tale of Kieu and many other contemporary works were translated into German by friends of Vietnam such as Irene and Franz Faber, Professor Giesenfeld.

Professor Wilfried Lulei has been with Vietnam since he was a student in East Berlin and has been diligently researching to launch publications on Vietnamese history.

Professor Giesenfeld, Professor Lulei and the talented composer Schwaen are also active members of the Friendship Association and the Vietnamese-Germans Society.

An outdoor activity of the Vietnamese Association in Stuttgart, Germany. Photo: WVR

After the reunification of the two countries, many activities were maintained and diversified: these were visits to the medical examination and treatment by a team of volunteer doctors including overseas Vietnamese doctors and German doctors; mine clearance activities in Quang Tri, and the exchange of delegations of the Vietnam-Germany Friendship Association with the Friendship Association in Düsseldorf.

The Vietnamese-Germans Society in Berlin and Vietnamese organizations in Germany actively worked to maintain the Vietnamese culture of the second and third generations.

Since 1976, Germany has made an important contribution to building the first concentrated coffee farms in the Central Highlands.

The German people have continued to connect and bring Vietnamese coffee to Europe and Germany so that today Vietnam is the leading coffee exporter to Germany. A typical person is Siegfried Kaulfuss, who has just been awarded the Friendship Medal by the President on his 90th birthday.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Nguyen Minh Vu presents the Friendship Medal from the President to Siegfried Kaulfuss, a member of the Vietnamese-German Society. Photo: VNA

Esabella Müller has helped built dozens of schools and boarding houses for ethnic students in Ha Giang, Cao Bang and Yen Bai.

WUS Germany and Dr. Kabiz Ghawami in Wiesbaden have provided many scholarships to poor Vietnamese students over the last 20 years. In recent years, they have also donated water purification systems to schools in Quang Nam, Ha Giang and many other places.

Recently, in a number of localities in the states of Nordrhein-Westfalen and Rheinland-Palatinate, flash floods caused serious damage to people and properties. The Vietnamese community in places such as Berlin made donations to help.

Generations of young people in both countries are continuing the tradition of bringing Vietnam-Germany relations to ever new heights.

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