FOUNDATION CELEBRATION
On the last Friday in February, we celebrate the anniversary of our association’s foundation with the traditional foundation celebration. Originally established as an anniversary event in a smaller group, the celebration became much bigger in 1913. On that occasion, 56 members and 84 guests were present. As the number of members grew steadily in the subsequent decades, our premises soon became too small.
To mark our association’s 50th anniversary, therefore, we moved the celebration into the upper hall of the 1405 Bremen City Hall for the first time in 1951. Since then, the anniversary celebration has been attended by around 400 people – members, Asian ambassadors, honoured guests from around the world and representatives from the fields of politics, cultural and business – and we have used it to collect donations for our charitable projects. The East Asia Association’s foundation celebration is part of the triumvirate of traditional events in Bremen, alongside the Eiswette (an annual wager to see whether the Weser is completely iced over on Epiphany since 1829) and the Schaffermahlzeit (an annual banquet for merchants and shipping managers since 1545).
The 124th Foundation Celebration
is on 28 February 2025