Peace Day on October 25: Join in the "Osnabrück Peace Singing".

What a liberation! When the Peace of Westphalia was proclaimed from the steps of Osnabrück's town hall on October 25, 1648, the people spontaneously sang its praises in the market square. On the 375th anniversary, the city of Osnabrück and the German Choral Association honored this event with the "Osnabrück Peace Singing". All choirs and singing enthusiasts are invited to sing old and new peace songs on Wednesday, October 25 at 4:30 p.m. under the musical direction of Michael Schmoll and together with international youth choirs on the market square in front of the historic city hall.

One of the initiators and patron of the project is former German President Christian Wulff. "Then as now, singing together creates a sense of togetherness that is especially important in challenging times. At the Osnabrück Peace Singing, we bring people of different ages and nations together musically to recall the Peace Treaty of Westphalia, the defining event in the city's history, also emotionally," says the president of the German Choral Association and honorary citizen of the city of Osnabrück.

The peace singing will last about an hour. Among other things, Mozart's canon "Dona nobis pacem", the Osnabrück Peace Chorale and other peace songs will be sung. The singers can prepare themselves with a digital choir booklet: All songs are offered for practice as sheet music and audio files for free download at www.osnabrueck.de/friedenssingen. This site also features dates for open rehearsals, where those interested can rehearse the songs with professional support.

Peace Singing is complemented by various meeting and participation events that also involve the singers and ensembles. On Peace Day, choirs from the region organize encounter concerts in public places in the city. Interested choirs can submit proposals for encounter concerts via a contact form on the website. Also on October 25, the "SingBus" of the German Choir Youth will offer an open singing program for daycare centers on the cathedral forecourt. Here, children will be able to discover their voice, polyphony and rhythm in a singing and ringing exhibition and get to the bottom of musical principles.

From October 21 to 26, children's, youth and student choirs from Angers and Greifswald, both twin cities of Osnabrück, and from Stockholm will also be guests in the City of Peace. The focus of the encounters with the Osnabrück Youth Choir and other choirs from the region will be on getting to know each other while making music together, exploring the city, and dealing with current issues of war and peace, democracy, and the European idea. Of course, joint concerts will also be sung.

"In the anniversary program '375 Years of the Peace of Westphalia,' the historical events have a special place, such as most recently the very well-attended cultural program on the Osnabrück Handshake," says Osnabrück Mayor Katharina Pötter. "With the Peace Singing, we have created another unique format with historical relevance for the finale of the anniversary year that brings people together and lets them share in the Peace of Westphalia."