Award winners 2000

Helmut Kohl

Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl was awarded the 2000 Peace of Westphalia Prize in Münster. The prizewinner accepted the award at Münster City Hall from Dr. Horst Annecke, Chairman of the Wirtschaftliche Gesellschaft für Westfalen und Lippe e.V. (WWL).

The decision to award Helmut Kohl the Peace of Westphalia Prize honors the former Chancellor's achievements in German reunification and overcoming the division of Europe. Germany's position in Europe and the world is strengthened and stands for a peaceful unification of the European states as equal members of the European community of states.

Ekola-Gymnasium and Conrad von Soest Gymnasium

In 2000, two grammar schools from Wroclaw and Soest/Westphalia, the Polish Ekola Grammar School and the Conrad von Soest Grammar School, were jointly awarded the Youth Prize. The Ekola School of the Wroclaw Education Society (Zespol Szkol Spolecznych nr 1 we Wroclasju), which was founded in 1990, fulfills its mission in accordance with fundamental values such as justice, honesty, tolerance, truth, preservation of peace, European understanding and environmental protection. International cooperation in the ecological field began with participation in the interdisciplinary nature conservation program "Science Across Europe".

Since 1992, the school has promoted the process of understanding with German schools by having its pupils take part in competitions (e.g. on the subject of "Neighbors in Europe") or by holding similar competitions for pupils from their own voivodeship (administrative district), e.g. "Discover Germany" (1997) for Polish pupils and "Discover Poland" (1998 and 1999) with the participation of German and Czech pupils.

Over the years, Conrad von Soest Gymnasium has initiated various cross-border projects and plans and carried them out according to the principle of "Learning together - acting together - making friends and growing together". Young people from Poland, Sweden, Hungary and the Netherlands have taken part in these projects. This resulting network of partnerships cooperated in the implementation of the ecology project "Environment knows no borders", which reflects a shared concern for nature conservation, while at the same time creating the conditions for history projects.