Freundeskreis Hamburg-Dar es Salaam

Lion meets seagull - Dar es Salaam-Hamburg sister city partnership festival
2025-06-28 15:00 - 19:00 (Europe/Berlin) | Planten und Blomen – rund um die Konzertmuschel, Hamburg
One of the largest city partnerships, with over 50 partnerships each in Dar es Salaam and Hamburg, is celebrating its 15th anniversary. The highlight of the festive week is the big party on Saturday, June 28th from 3 p.m. around the concert shell in Planten un Blomen full of hands-on activities – also for children – talks, theater, music and dance. A stage program including concerts, a play about the Maji Maji War in Tanzania in 1905, acrobatics and dance and, of course, a detailed presentation of the partnership and its various projects.
At this festival, they experience the town twinning live. 80 friends from Dar es Salaam are also looking forward to meeting you.
You can look forward to:
Information and exhibition: Games and activities for the little ones: here the children can let their creativity run free.
creativity, get to know children from Tanzania and their games.
Hands-on activities: Have you ever ridden in a bajaji, seen how the fire department’s high-altitude rescuers abseil or do exercises yourself with the youth fire department, play beach volleyball with colleagues from Dar es Salaam?
Workshops: Take part in our creative workshops where you can learn something new and have fun together. For example, dance moves from Tanzania, or learn how to greet each other in a Swahili course, or paint parachutes together.
Cultural program in the afternoon is designed by the young people. A joint German-Tanzanian production: a play about the Maji-Maji uprising (during the German colonial period in Tanzania),
Dance groups present their work and young bands liven up the day.
Discussion rounds on various topics will bring people into contact with each other and allow them to ask all the questions that have been on our minds for a long time.
Delicious food: from hearty snacks to sweet treats – at our food stands you can experience our partner country with your senses.
Games and activities for the little ones: here the children can give free rein to their creativity and get to know children from Tanzania and their games.
And the beautiful surroundings and sunshine will invite them to relax and chat with new friends, ensuring a festive environment!

Abeneko & The Positive Mind - Bongo Fusion from Tanzania
2025-06-28 19:30 - 22:15 | Planten und Blomen – rund um die Konzertmuschel, Hamburg
Abeneko is a live performer, singer, songwriter, guitarist and choreographer from Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. Since his song “Salam” released in 2017, he has been bringing his own genre of music called “Bongo Fusion” to the stage, a mixture of current East African beats, singeli, funk and Afro-fusion, combined with traditional dances, melodies and rhythms. The band is known for its energetic live performances full of stories and strong messages. It is important to Abeneko that the messages of his songs go beyond simple slogans: “I want young Tanzanians to respect their own musical heritage, because we are losing our sense of self in Dar.” Dar es Salaam, the cultural capital of Tanzania, is called “bongo” or “brain” in Swahili to illustrate the madness of life in one of Africa’s busiest megacities.
Free admission

A special water light concert to Tanzanian music
2025-06-28 22:00 - 23:00 | Planten und Blomen, Hamburg, Hamburg
A special water light concert was composed for the anniversary celebrations of the sister city partnership.
Different musical styles and well-known tunes from Tanzania will make the water fountains dance in a special way. Bathed in bright colors, you can experience and enjoy our partnership in a particularly magical way.

Sister City Trophy - beach volleyball tournament with players from Dar es Salaam
2025-06-29 09:00 - 16:00 | Südstrand Sportanlage – Stadtpark, Südring 5-7, Hamburg
The sustainable sand sports club “Sand for All” from Barmbek is organizing an international beach volleyball tournament together with the “Faru Sports Foundation” from Dar es Salaam, with players from many cities in Germany, the Netherlands and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. What can spectators expect? Dynamic encounters in the wonderful surroundings of Hamburg’s city park (Südstrand area). All guests of the anniversary are cordially invited to support the teams in the competition and enjoy the encounter.

Guided rap tour at the “Tanzania Park”
2025-06-29 15:00 - 17:00 | Wilsonstraße 64-68, 22045 Hamburg, Wilsonstraße 64-68, Hamburg 22045, 22045
Beats, Rhymes and History goes Jenfeld: Marc Agten has been on the road in Hamburg for several years with his rap culture format “Beats, Rhymes and History”. His focus is always on German colonialism and its traces in Hamburg’s urban space. Marc has also been part of our project in Hamburg Jenfeld since 2023. For the so-called “Tanzania Park”, he has developed a tour with Conscious Rap that critically brings light to the racist monuments in this park. Everyone who is interested in creative cultural mediation and wants to take a critical look at the colonial traces in their neighborhood is invited to this special tour.

15 years of sister city partnership: prospects for cooperation with a self-confident Global South
2025-06-30 18:00 - 20:00 | GIGA Forum, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20354 Hamburg, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20354 Hamburg , 20354, Germany
The sister city partnership between Hamburg and Dar es Salaam will celebrate its 15th anniversary in summer 2025 against the backdrop of changing North-South relations. Today, the countries of the Global South are acting with new self-confidence in sometimes changing alliance constellations. Actors in the Global South are aware of their growing importance. At the same time, Europe and the USA are losing influence. In view of these changing power relations, what opportunities are there for North-South cooperation in the context of a city partnership? How can the city partnership between Hamburg and Dar es Salaam contribute to better mutual understanding beyond close project-related cooperation? What innovative forms of cooperation are conceivable that also provide new food for thought globally?
Speakers:
Dr. Henrik Maihack is head of the Africa Department at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and author of the book “Wir sind nicht alle: Der Globale Süden und die Ignoranz des Westens” (We are not all: The Global South and the ignorance of the West)
Richard Shaba works for German development cooperation in Tanzania and is involved in the city partnership between Dar es Salaam and Hamburg
Inken Bruns is responsible for the city partnership with Dar es Salaam at Diakonie Hamburg
Regine Heß is responsible for relations with East Africa and the Horn of Africa at the Federal Foreign Office and was ambassador to Tanzania from 2019 to 2023
Moderation:
Dr. Julia Grauvogel is Senior Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute of African Studies
Admission free
Registration required at:
https://www.giga-hamburg.de/de/veranstaltungen/giga-forum/15-jahre-staedtepartnerschaft-hamburg-dar-es-salaam-perspektiven-fuer

“We are one” - campaign for global friendship and solidarity.
2025-07-01 16:30 - 17:30 | Rathausmarkt, Rathausmarkt 1, Hamburg
As part of the high-profile campaign before the town hall reception, we will be carrying nine scarves (each carried by 8 people) in a procession to the town hall market. The scarves have previously been colorfully painted by the participants in a preparatory public campaign and each contain a letter.
Together, these letters form the slogan “we are one!”
The jumping cloths are accordingly laid out on the ground of the Rathausmarkt and then raised to chest height in a specific choreography (we), lifted upwards over the head with a swing (are) while the 8 people run towards each other and into the middle (one), producing an inflated balloon above them. The words are shouted. Four partners from Hamburg and four from Tanzania will each hold a scarf together. Afterwards, the scarves are again stretched to chest height and the procession moves happily in serpentine lines to a new action point on the market square, where the action is repeated. At the end of the procession, the scarves are placed on the ground again according to the slogan and all participants and guests form a circle around the slogan.
Tuten und Blasen will provide musical accompaniment with African jazz rhythms and get everyone in a festive mood.
And an electric tricycle called “bajaji” will offer short rides.

Reception of the Senate
2025-07-01 18:00 - 21:00 | Hamburger Rathaus, Rathausmarkt 1
Together -Pamoja- Gemeinsam
Visiting friends – Senate reception at Hamburg City Hall on the occasion of the 15-year sister city partnership between Dar es Salaam and Hamburg

Host: First Mayor Dr. Peter Tschentscher
Guests from Dar es Salaam: including the city director and the deputy city director
Award ceremony for the three winners of the photo competition “Dar es Salaam – from a female perspective”

Participation by invitation.

Sporting solidarity
2025-07-02 18:00 - 20:00 | afrotopia, Biedermannplatz 19, Hamburg, Bundesstaat wählen:, 22083, Germany
What can athletes gain from the city partnership?
The discussion with athletes from Dar es Salaam provides information on sport and concrete ideas on how athletes in East Africa can be supported. Interested, curious sports enthusiasts are just as welcome as representatives of sports clubs and associations. Together, we will discuss the future of sport in Tanzania’s largest metropolis.
in the Addis Ababa conference room

Different worlds - different lenses: photography in Hamburg + Dar es Salaam
2025-07-03 13:00 - 17:00 | Barmbek Basch (Kulturzentrum) , Wohldorfer Str. 30, 22081 Hamburg, Wohldorfer Str. 30, Hamburg, Hamburg, 22081, Germany
In the period from 28.6.2025 – 5.7.2025 we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the city partnership Dar es Salaam – Hamburg in Hamburg. A special topic that has developed in recent years in the city partnership is the training project for female photographers. Inspired by an idea from photographer Imani Nsamila, a photo exhibition project was realized in 2020 with young people from Dar es Salaam and Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg, which was presented in both cities.
This gave rise to the idea of training young female photographers in order to offer women in particular career prospects in this field. Four pilot workshops resulted in a concept for a modular one-year vocational training course in 2023. A photo competition was held for the anniversary of the town twinning and the winners will be invited to Hamburg for the anniversary events. We would like to use the visit for an expert discussion between participants from Dar Es Salaam and Hamburg and ask the following questions
How can I be artistically and commercially successful as a photographer?
Expert discussion on July 3, 2025, 1:00 – 5:00 pm
Venue: Community Center Barmbek BASCH, Wohldorfer Str. 30, 22081 Hamburg
Aims of the expert discussion:

Exchange of knowledge, experiences and best practices between Tanzanian and German female photographers
Strengthening international networks and professional perspectives
Developing new ideas for cooperation and projects
Raising awareness of different market conditions and creative strategies
Promoting the professional independence of young female photographers
Long-term development of joint educational projects and training programs
Networking with relevant organizations to support young talent

Two cities and one task: environmental partnerships across continents
2025-07-03 16:00 - 18:00 | HafenCity Universität, Henning-Voscherau-Platz 1, Hamburg, 20457
Hamburg and Dar es Salaam are working closely together in an environmental partnership in the field of environmental and resource protection. The main actors on the Hamburg side are the Department of Environmentally Sound Urban and Infrastructure Planning at HafenCity University and the Botanical Garden. In Dar es Salaam, we are working with the Municipal Council, Ardhi University, the Water Institute and NGOs such as TaLRO. On July 3, we would like to report on selected projects and solutions and talk to you. Perhaps you would also like to get actively involved yourself?
The following topics will be presented:

How can flood protection in schools and hospitals be improved so that regular operations remain possible even in rainy seasons?
How can the botanical garden in Dar es Salaam become a place for research, environmental education and events on the topic of climate adaptation, while at the same time preserving the old tree population in the long term?
How can less plastic waste from residential areas be discharged into the waterways and then the Indian Ocean?

In order to better plan the event, please register by Wed, 2.7. to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Dickhaut, HafenCity University Hamburg (HCU):
wolfgang.dickhaut@hcu-hamburg.de (contact also for further questions)
(for the exact room see signs in the foyer of the HCU)

Kurze Schatten: ajabu ajabu meets B-movie
2025-07-03 19:00 - 21:00 | B Movie, Brigittenstraße 5, Hamburg, 20359
KURZE SCHATTEN – de 2013, 58 min., original with English subtitles, digital
Hamburg filmmaker Gerd Roscher follows in the footsteps of his ancestor, the explorer Albrecht Roscher, who traveled to East Africa in 1858 and is considered the “discoverer” of Dar es Salaam in the colonial narrative. Using letters, archive material and his impressions, he traces his journey and embarks on a new exploration.
Guest: Gerd Roscher
A joint film program by ajabu ajabu, an artists’ collective from Dar es Salaam, and B-Movie.
ajabu ajabu and the B-Movie intuitively came together through visual language. The arthouse cinema in St. Pauli and the gallery with film studio in Dar es Salaam present a jointly curated film program dedicated to the different languages we use in exchange: Swahili, English and German, but also artistic languages such as film, music, theater or poetry – as well as our shared history and colonial entanglements. Let’s look forward to two film evenings under the motto “Historia ya Pamoja – Lugha ya Pamoja / Shared History – Shared Language”.

Women in Tanzanian cinema: ajabu ajabu meets B-movie
2025-07-04 19:00 - 22:30 | B Movie, Brigittenstraße 5, Hamburg, 20359

Michel meets Mbongo - Conference of the Sister Cities
2025-07-05 10:00 - 17:00 | Diakonie Altona, Königsstrasse 54, 22767 Hamburg, 22767 Hamburg
– in reference to the Hamburg Michel and the colloquial name of the inhabitants of Dar es Salaam –
We are finally meeting live again, partners from Dar es Salaam and, of course, from Hamburg. Time to exchange ideas and think about how we want to shape our partnership in the future.
The partnership conference at the end of the anniversary celebrations is based on the open space method. In small groups, the conference will offer all participants the space to address new topics, clarify open questions, share knowledge, deepen relationships, further develop the partnership or design new projects. To this end, everyone can contribute their own content in the plenary session and discuss and work on it in small groups.
Short minutes document the results and are then made available to everyone digitally.
At the end, we will summarize the week of partnership and offer a joint finale at the nearby Altonale.
