15.07.2022 5 years of University- and 50 years of city partnership between Marburg and Sfax

When in 1971 the city partnership between the city of Sfax in Tunesia and Marburg was concluded, the German Justice Minister Gerhard Jahn (Then MP of Marburg) did maybe hope to initiate a long-lasting friendship and cooperation between the two cities he certainly hoped it might survive but could he have to be sure of it?

Therefore, it was a great pleasure to celebrate these fifty years of City partnership, which was completed by a university partnership in 2016, with the visit of an official Tunisian delegation from the City and the University of Sfax to Marburg from the 8th to the 10th of June 2022.

It was also very welcome to see each other again in person after two years of pandemics.

On the 8th of June the university inaugurated the festivity by welcoming the delegation to its historic Alte Aula in the old university. Vice President Evelyn Korn told the guests about the intention of the university to make this collaboration with the global south a lasting success, especially as Sfax, Tunis, and Marburg were scientifically already tied together by the MECAM research Center in Tunis, (see: "Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb”, www.mecam.tn )

The leader of the Sfax delegation Prof. Khaled Zghal brought the greetings of university president Prof. Abdelwaheed Mokni and saw as well plenty of opportunities for cooperation as this existing partnership would present an opportunity for both sides not to miss.

In order to collaborate further in different scientific disciplines, several meetings took place in the afternoon of that day and the following morning, where the natural scientists met from both sides, as well as medical doctors, mathematicians and computer scientists, and colleagues from the human science These smaller groups discussed internally about future cooperation in research and staff and student exchange.

On the 10th of June in the morning came then the turn of the inauguration party by the city where the guests presented the Mayors of Marburg Dr. Thomas Spies and Nadine Bernshausen with presents and invited them to visit again. Marburg city officials explained their gratitude of the visit and stressed that such a unique partnership between a German and a Tunisian city was a sign that civil societies of cities could stand together in their quest for the future despite cultural differences.

In the afternoon then took place a walk to Sfax street in Marburg was followed by an invitation from the Marburg Mosque community, where Imam Prof. Abdelwahhab Cheikhrouhou made a speech to the Muslims of the town and hoped for further cooperation and maybe a visit to Sfax by members of the Marburg Muslim community.

And although during the sometimes tiring but always joyful visit there were some official events one should highlight the importance of the civil society in both cities as expressed through the activities of the friendship associations in Marburg and Sfax who have been the carrier of the mutual cooperations in different sectors of society and in organizing cultural exchange programs.

As Sfax has since 1971 a central square which is named after the city of Marburg, one could say as a resume, that in the heart of Sfax there is a place of Marburg, but in Marburg, during these three days, the people from Sfax were in the heart of the people of Marburg.