Past news

Slight spring recovery on the labor market / Under 14 thousand unemployed again in East Brandenburg: In the city of Frankfurt (Oder), the district of Märkisch-Oderland and the district of Oder-Spree, a total of 13,976 people were registered as unemployed in April. This is 267 fewer than in March and 334 more than in April a year ago. The unemployment rate fell slightly to 6.2 percent, compared to 6.3 percent in March.

On March 21, the Praxisforschungsstelle (PFS) für Lebensmodelle im Alter auf dem Land was opened in the Heinersdorfer Kulturzentrum. It is a partner in the "Alterperimentale" transfer alliance between BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and the Catholic University of Applied Sciences Berlin. The aim of the practical research center is to support older people in staying in their home village for as long as possible and actively shaping their lives in old age. The aim is to conduct research together with them and develop suitable living models for the region.

The family center in the MehrGenerationenHaus MIKADO at Franz-Mehring-Straße 20 will be running a six-week "Educational Cooking" course for children aged six to ten from April 2024. The aim is not to achieve the perfect cooking result, but to allow children to get to know lots of different foods and taste sensations and to help decide what they want to try and process.

On February 14, 2024, the first think tank of the Fürstenwalde office took place on the premises of GeoClimaDesign AG. Climate managers, scientists, utilities, landlords, energy consultants, regional developers and citizens came together to discuss the heating transition in the region.

With the podcast "Abgeholt – Wissenschaft in vollen Zügen", the presence center offers a new science format to go. It meets scientists on the ODEG train on the RE1 line and talks to them about their research and their view of the region.

From Sunday, April 7, 2024, the first exhibition of the season will be on display in St. Marienkirche: "Love or Burden? – Construction Site Monument" is the name of the interactive and multimedia traveling exhibition of the German Foundation for Monument Protection (DSD). It takes an unusual look at the controversial topic of monument protection and is suitable for all age groups. The exhibition will be opened on Saturday, April 6 at 6 p.m. with music and words of welcome.

At last! Spring is fluttering its blue ribbon through the air again and the desire for exercise in the fresh air is increasing! The spa town offers, among other things, the ascent of the four Bad Freienwald towers, which are open again from Good Friday, March 29 and invite you to an Easter egg hunt on March 31.

After years of intensive work by many stakeholders, the steering and budget committee (StuBA) of the federal and state office for lignite remediation made a decision last week that was not only fervently hoped for in Frankfurt (Oder). According to the decision, the federal mining rehabilitation company, Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbau-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbh (LMBV), will be responsible for the rehabilitation of Lake Helene near Frankfurt (Oder), which has been closed as a bathing area for almost four years.

On Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 8.30 p.m., people all over the world will symbolically switch off the lights for one hour. Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice are also taking part in this "Earth Hour". The lights on the buildings of the European University Viadrina and the Collegium Polonicum will be switched off.

On Thursday, March 21 at 5 p.m., the exhibition "Frankfurt Underworlds: Photographic Discoveries by Hartmut Kelm" opens. Here, Frankfurt photographer Hartmut Kelm shares his view of all kinds of hidden places in the Oder city and arouses curiosity about an eventful history.

The band KARAT's 50th anniversary tour will take them to the Messehallen Frankfurt (Oder) on March 8, 2025. Fans of absurd ventriloquist comedy will get their money's worth on 10 May 2025 when Sascha Grammel makes a guest appearance in the exhibition halls with his wondrous crowd of puppets and the program "Wünsch dir was!". And even more program highlights await you.

Applications open until April 7: This summer, a joint delegation from Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice will once again set off to represent the Hanseatic twin city at the most important Hanseatic meeting of modern times. Interested citizens from both cities are invited to join the travel group and become part of the Hanseatic togetherness in the middle of the historic old town of Gdansk.

At the invitation of Michael Kellner (Member of Parliament and PStS in the BMWK) and Erdmute Scheufele (Member of the Oder-Spree District Council), a press event was held on March 7, 2024 at the Fürstenwalde lock with an alliance of local shippers, shipping companies and port operators as well as the East Brandenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce to usher in a new era of inland shipping on the Oder-Spree Canal.

The popular and traditional Bad Freienwalde travel journal has been published just in time for the start of spring. Its 68 pages provide comprehensive information about Bad Freienwalde, which Theodor Fontane described as a "pretty word for a pretty place". It is now available free of charge from the Bad Freienwalde Tourist Information Office.

Mayor Claus Junghanns and Jochem Freyer, Chairman of the Management Board of the Frankfurt (Oder) Employment Agency, recently visited the educational institution Quirito Academy Frankfurt (Oder) to find out about the integration offers for refugees and migrants in the labor market.

The next European elections will take place on June 9, 2024. The Frankfurt-Słubice Cooperation Center of the City of Frankfurt (Oder), the Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art (BLMK) and EUROPE DIRECT Frankfurt (Oder) are jointly taking the European elections as an opportunity to invite young people from Germany and Poland to an EU election poster workshop and competition followed by a poster show.

18 students from the European University Viadrina and the University Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne researched the traces of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda last year. They show their impressions of the trip in the exhibition "Rwanda and Us. Looking back on a trip to Rwanda 30 years after the genocide" on the second floor of the Gräfin-Dönhoff building, Europaplatz 1. The photos can be seen until the end of May.

From 30.03.2024, the time has finally come again - the Oderbus will be making its way to the Oder every week. Every Saturday, the Oderbus offers the opportunity to take an exciting tour through the picturesque Oderbruch region. Experience the beauty of the region as the bus passes various tourist stops.

Eight paintings from the collection of the Viadrina Municipal Museum are currently embarking on a journey. In a way, they are embarking on a kind of beauty treatment. This is made possible thanks to the support of the Friends of the Cultural Foundation of the Federal States. The Circle of Friends is supporting the professional restoration of the eight originals of the subject "Frankfurt (Oder), a city on the river".

Once again, Sebastian Fritze, President of the Brandenburg State Office for Mining, Geology and Raw Materials (LBGR), keeps his word and comes to Frankfurt (Oder) for the public presentation of the stability report for Lake Helene.

There is an urgent need for action in planning the transport infrastructure around the airport and Tesla region. This is shown by the joint "Traffic and bottleneck analysis of the airport surroundings and Tesla region" by the municipal working group Dialogforum Airport Berlin Brandenburg and the Berlin-Brandenburg Chambers of Industry and Commerce.

From February 28 to March 20, pupils between the ages of 8 and 13 can experience how a university works and what studying feels like at the Viadrina Children's University at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). On four Wednesday afternoons, scientists will give lectures on current topics, presented in a child-friendly way. Participation is free of charge.

A digital giveaway market for Märkisch-Oderland has been online since February 23. Citizens of the district can use it to give away household items in good condition or exchange them for other everyday items free of charge and without the hassle of creating an account. The waste management company MOL is thus also gradually developing the digital services offered by its waste app MOL.

ALCARO Invest, an owner-managed and nationwide specialist for the development, operation and letting of logistics and commercial real estate, has received planning permission for the second logistics property in Log Plaza Frankfurt (Oder). René Wilke, Mayor of the City of Frankfurt (Oder), personally handed over the building permit yesterday to Peter Bergmann and Arne Haeger, the responsible project managers at ALCARO Invest.

From the 2024/25 school year, the Karl-Liebknecht-Gymnasium in Frankfurt (Oder) will be setting up a language learning class for Polish for the first time. This will enable even more pupils to learn the language – in future even from Year 5. The Ministry of Education (MBJS) and the city of Frankfurt (Oder) also see the offer as a further contribution to intensifying neighborly relations with Poland.

With the district reform in 1993, implemented under the then Prime Minister Manfred Stolpe, the independent city of Frankfurt (Oder) and the newly founded district of Oder-Spree officially became neighbors. After more than 30 years of good cooperation and neighbourly relations, there was a premiere on Tuesday, 20 February 2024: the administrative heads met together for the first time.

State Secretary Uwe Schüler from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Planning of the State of Brandenburg handed over a funding notification for 150,000 euros to District Administrator Gernot Schmidt at the train station in Müncheberg on February 2, 2024.

A new online portal from the Federal Employment Agency (BA) has been up and running at www.mein-now.de since the start of the year. With "meinNOW", people in employment, employers, the unemployed and further training providers have a central entry point for all topics relating to further vocational training. "meinNOW" offers guidance and information and makes the topic of continuing vocational training accessible to all interested parties digitally and in one place on the internet.

Florian Vogel, Artistic Director of the Kleist Forum, has extended his contract until the end of the 2026/27 season, ensuring the continued development of the theater's artistic work. "I am very happy to continue to take on the challenge of developing an ambitious and highly entertaining program for this wonderful theater for another three years ..."

As part of the work of the round table "Future and educational opportunities for children in Frankfurt (Oder) – active against child poverty", active members of the Frankfurt Children's Charter sub-working group and interested parties meet regularly to discuss the current challenges facing children and young people and to develop new ideas and projects. Anyone interested in the Kindercharta regulars' table is welcome to attend on the last Wednesday of the month (outside of vacations) at the WG Bar.

Minister of Culture Dr. Manja Schüle and Minister of Infrastructure Rainer Genilke, together with State Conservator Prof. Dr. Thomas Drachenberg, presented the 2023 balance sheet for monument funding in the state of Brandenburg in Potsdam today. One outstanding example of funding is the conversion and refurbishment of the historic town hall of the city of Frankfurt (Oder) in line with its listed status.

District Administrator Gernot Schmidt is calling for participation in the district competition "Our village has a future" and is encouraging all municipalities and districts in our district to present their ideas and concepts for village development. Gernot Schmidt comments: "The future of our villages is shaped by the commitment of the citizens. Being able to get involved, help shape and develop the community is one of the greatest joys of rural life."

Axel Vogel, Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Climate Protection of the State of Brandenburg, visited Frankfurt (Oder) as part of his tour of districts and independent cities.

The STIC Märkisch-Oderland Economic Development Corporation welcomed around 50 invited guests to the STIC's conference room in Strausberg on January 30 as part of its traditional New Year's reception.

High-voltage technology is playing an increasingly important role – whether in electromobility, renewable energies or industry. In order to meet the growing demand for qualified specialists, Quirito Academy GmbH in Frankfurt (Oder) is offering qualifications in the use of high-voltage, photovoltaic and energy storage technology as part of a project with the municipal business development agencies in Frankfurt (Oder) and Eisenhüttenstadt.

Unemployment rises by 969 people as usual for the season – unemployment rate at 6.5 percent: In January, a total of 14,558 people were registered as unemployed in the city of Frankfurt (Oder), the district of Märkisch-Oderland and the district of Oder-Spree.

On June 9, 2024, the European and local elections will take place in Frankfurt (Oder). In addition to the European Parliament and the city council, the local councils of the nine districts will also be elected. To ensure that the elections are conducted properly, the election office of the city of Frankfurt (Oder) is looking for electoral assistants who would like to volunteer in one of the 55 electoral boards at a local polling station or in one of the 12 postal voting boards.

Atilla Cintosun from class 6c at Mitte elementary school is the winner of this year's city-wide reading competition. He came out on top against the class winners from the other Frankfurt elementary school.

The European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) is receiving around 700,000 euros from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to support its work in the European Reform University Alliance (ERUA). The funding is part of the national support program "European University Networks (EUN) – National Initiative" and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

A joint application by the municipalities of Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice entitled "Frankfurt-Słubice Master Plan 2025–2035 (Phase I) – Setting the course for innovative, sustainable, multimodal mobility in the twin city" was approved at the meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Interreg VIA Brandenburg-Lubuskie 2021–2027 program on 19 December 2023.

The economic development and regional management players came together for the sixth time. The focus was on a practice-oriented exchange on the topics of automotive technology and decarbonization.

The Ministry of Culture is funding the planned conversion and renovation of the former movie theater into the new BLMK location in Frankfurt (Oder) with around 2.2 million euros this year and over the next two years. The funds will be made available for planning services.

On December 1, 2023, the state's most important business prize, the "Brandenburg Future Prize" 2023, was awarded to six companies at the Holiday Inn Berlin Airport Conference Center in Schönefeld, two of which were from Oderland-Spree.

The European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) officially opened the Viadrina Center of Polish and Ukrainian Studies (VCPU) on Thursday, November 30. With the VCPU, interdisciplinary research into Polish and Ukrainian history and the present has a new center in Germany.

On November 30, Viadrina student Anastasiia Latkovska received this year's DAAD prize for outstanding achievements by international students. The prize was awarded during the opening of the Viadrina Center of Polish and Ukrainian Studies.

As the largest event location in East Brandenburg, the Messehallen Frankfurt (Oder) are a fixed point in the tour schedules of big names from the music and comedy business. Comedian Paul Panzer, the rock band SILLY and Max Raabe will soon be performing live there with the Palast Orchester.

The head of the land registry and surveying office of the city of Frankfurt (Oder), Nico Schmidt, has now been appointed city surveying director and civil servant for life. The corresponding certificate was presented by Lord Mayor René Wilke during the last departmental meeting.

Well supervised, practice-oriented and international – this is how students rate the International Business Administration course at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). Once again, the Master's degree program performs above average in the current comparison of business degree programs at German universities and colleges.

Comrade Hardy Güttler has been a member of the Frankfurt (Oder) volunteer fire department in the Booßen district since March 1981. He is still involved there today as a fire brigade commander. In addition, Hardy Güttler has been particularly active in setting up the city fire brigade association and supports the organization and implementation of the annual meetings of the retirement and honorary departments of the Frankfurt (Oder) volunteer fire department.

Last week, the 18th Youth Welfare Day took place at the "Konrad Wachsmann" Upper Secondary School Center (OSZ) and focused on the topic of inclusion in early childhood education – "YES TO DIVERSITY! NO TO EXCLUSION!". The purpose of the conference is to give professionals the opportunity to explore a key topic in greater depth over the course of a day and to initiate content for further work.