Heimatpreis 2024 Winner

Date of Announcement: 14.09.2024

The Nordstadtblogger Editorial Team Wins the Dortmund Homeland Prize

The project “Nordstadt-Geschichte(n)” and other local history reports and series by the Nordstadtblogger editorial team have been awarded the Dortmund Homeland Prize 2024.

The editorial team secured first place among the three finalists in the online voting by Dortmund residents, with 48 percent of the votes. The award comes with a prize of 7,500 euros. On Friday, Mayor Barbara Brunsing presented the prize in a ceremonial setting in the rotunda of the Museum of Art and Cultural History.

The second prize and 5,000 euros go to the “project wichlinghofen – The Citizens’ Association”. The third prize and 2,500 euros go to the “Association of Cameroonian Engineers and Computer Scientists Ruhr District”. A total of 32 projects applied for the Dortmund Homeland Prize this year, from which a jury of experts selected the finalists.

Finalists Reflect the Diversity of Projects

“Home can be shared with others, temporarily or forever. This makes it more diverse – home evolves through new ideas,” said Mayor Barbara Brunsing at the award ceremony. “Projects that deal with home not only shape the concept of home but also our community, our city. How Dortmund is seen or can be seen as a home is once again impressively demonstrated by our Homeland Prize winners this year.”

Although the three finalist projects are very different, they have something important in common: “The commitment of this year’s projects unites them all in strengthening our city and making it livable – and with very different approaches,” emphasized Sebastian Kröger, acting head of the Office for Urban Renewal, which leads the Coordination Office for Homeland and awards the Homeland Prize.

Editorial Team Rewarded for Long-Standing Journalistic Work

The Nordstadtblogger editorial team has been an integral part of Dortmund’s media landscape for eleven years. Almost as long, the editorial team has been dedicated to reporting on local history topics. This includes the series “Nordstadt-Geschichte(n)” with around 100 articles by Klaus Winter. The reporting is not only focused on current topics but also on the history and tradition of the city. With their articles and the motto “Those who do not know the past cannot understand the present and shape the future,” the Nordstadtblogger invites people to rediscover their own homeland. Interested individuals can go on a discovery tour online on the website or through social networks and draw from almost 1,100 contributions in the history category and more than 400 articles in the field of remembrance work.

Other Award Winners Also Honored

The project “wichlinghofen – The Citizens’ Association” received 30 percent of the 1,795 valid votes for the project “District and Education Center as a Local Center and Community Place,” securing second place. In addition to organizing numerous annual events for the people in the Wichlinghofen district, the association is distinguished by its persistence in creating and implementing the concept for building a district center. Since 2009, determined efforts have been made to realize the idea, not only to build a new elementary school but also to construct a community center for the district. Numerous adversities that repeatedly delayed the construction could not affect the determination and cohesion of the association. The construction start was planned, so the residents of Wichlinghofen can look forward to a community center as the new center of the locality.

The third place goes to the “Association of Cameroonian Engineers and Computer Scientists Ruhr District” for the media and presentation workshops on the topic “My Dortmund – Identity in a Different Way!” The association was founded in 2014 by students of TU Dortmund and focuses on promoting programs that enhance the self-competence of people in the Ruhr area. The workshops held in Dortmund are aimed at children and young people between the ages of 12 and 19. The formats “Writing and Storytelling Workshop,” “Creative Photography,” “My Song – Beatmaking and Singing,” and “My Song – Creative Video Shooting” aim to support children and young people in Dortmund and help them develop a strong sense of belonging and identification with their culture and Dortmund.

Background of the Homeland Prize:

The Homeland Prize is part of the Homeland Promotion Program initiated by the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Homeland, Municipal Affairs, Building, and Digitalization. To implement this program, which focuses on and supports the numerous often behind-the-scenes working associations and volunteer initiatives, the city of Dortmund has established the Coordination Office for Homeland in the Office for Urban Renewal. This office also organizes the Dortmund Homeland Prize.

For more information: dortmund.de/heimat

Stadt Dortmund, Fachbereich Marketing + Kommunikation. (2024, September 14). Die Nordstadtblogger-Redaktion gewinnt den Dortmunder Heimat-Preis. Retrieved from https://www.presse-service.de/data.aspx/static/1166869.html

Photo Credits: ©  Stadt Dortmund / Roland Gorecki

German Press Release

https://www.presse-service.de/data.aspx/static/1166869.html