Over 1,800 individuals attended the New Year's celebrations in Pforzheim

In a New Year's reception themed "Pforzheim International," Mayor Boch addressed the city's partner cities and the general public, looking back on the past year and outlining the city's plans for the future.

The event, which took place at the CongressCentrum and was attended by approximately 1,800 visitors, was musically accompanied by the Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium's musical theater group and the Lukas-Diller-Quartet, who played in honour of Axel Klauschke.

Boch began by greeting representatives of Pforzheim's partner cities before turning to local politics. He spoke about the city's budget, mentioning a budget deficit of 6.5 million euros, but assured that this would be offset by a better annual result in 2018.

The mayor dedicated a significant portion of his speech to digitization, positioning it as a unique selling point for the city. Pforzheim aims to become a "smart city" with the help of the city council, the established "digitization committee," and the citizens. Boch believes that actively shaping the "digital revolution" is necessary and sees it as an opportunity to be seized.

Other topics covered in Boch's speech included childcare, schools, security, and cleanliness. He also addressed issues at the city works, including the SWP power sector.

Boch stated that Pforzheim shares the same convictions about peaceful coexistence in freedom with their partner cities and face common challenges such as climate change, digitization, or demographic development.

The mayor also took the opportunity to award the Citizen's Medal 2019 to Axel Klauschke, a cultural figure in Pforzheim, in recognition of his significant contributions to citizen media in the city. Klauschke has been instrumental in promoting local media engagement and facilitating community participation in media production, which led to him receiving the Citizen Media Award (Bürgermediensiegel) in 2019.

Since its Roman origins, Pforzheim has been an international city, with the beginnings of the jewelry and watch industry largely due to immigrants from other European countries. Boch compared the city's progress to a tanker that has covered many miles and faced storms.

The New Year's Reception was moved to a Saturday afternoon to encourage more attendance. It was a celebration of the city's past, present, and future, and a reminder of the shared convictions and common challenges that unite Pforzheim and its partner cities.