On Friday, 23.09.2022, the youngest students of our high school set out to discover Meerane historically, geographically and also politically. Equipped with a rather "dumb" city map and some questions and hints in their luggage, they went through the city. The students had to orientate themselves by street names and central buildings in the city center and transfer these to their city maps in order to make them "speak". In addition to St. Martin's Church, the library, the Kunsthaus and the city wall, the New and Old City Halls were also "headed for". In both of the latter, our explorers received very interesting guided tours. In the New Town Hall, for example, we were allowed to enter the mayor's office, sat in the council meeting room, walked through the Old Post Office and learned a lot about the city's political structures. As a farewell gift, we even received a small present from the city.
In the Old City Hall it became historical. An old model of the city showed us how small the city once was. In addition, we were told that Meerane was founded in 1174, had to survive several fires and was a stronghold of the textile industry during the industrialization. Above all, however, we were impressed by the work of Friedrich Eduard Bilz. It is very significant that the journeyman weaver who worked in Meerane and later became a naturopath was responsible for the invention of the "Bilz-Brause" (Sinalco), a refreshing lemonade that is still known far beyond the borders of Germany.
A very exciting and informative excursion that brought us a whole lot closer to Meerane.