The German painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer and French artist Christian Boltanski are to be presented with the Adenauer-de Gaulle Prize in Paris on 22 January 2009, this year's Franco-German Day. The prize, which the two artists will be given by Günter Gloser, the German Minister of State for Europe and Commissioner for Franco-German Cooperation, and Bruno Le Maire, the French Minister of State for European Affairs, is awarded for services to cultural dialogue between Germany and France.

Franco-German Day 2009 will be launched with a colloquium entitled “A couple with many partners? New global challenges for Germany, France and Europe“, jointly organized by EADS, Arte and the Robert Bosch Foundation.

For Minister of State Gloser and his counterpart Le Maire, the day's programme will include a visit to the premises of Robert Bosch France S.A. in Saint-Ouen and a meeting with school pupils from the Lycée Paul Éluard in Saint Denis. Whilst in Saint-Ouen, the Ministers will also visit the ”Resto du Cœur“. The ”Restaurants du Cœur“ is a charitable organization founded by French comedian Coluche in 1985 that now runs 1900 soup kitchens around the country, which serve some 91 million meals to 700,000 people in need each year.

Minister of State Gloser issued the following statement on Franco-German relations today (21 January):

”Franco-German Day is a special reminder of the close friendship between Germany and France. Our close partnership and our coordinated action are vital if our two countries and Europe are to master the current economic and financial crisis.

Bruno Le Maire and I consider our visit to a “Resto du Cœur” to be particularly important in this context. We want to demonstrate our solidarity with the people who have been especially hard hit by the economic crisis.”

Franco-German Day goes back to 2003, the year of the 40th anniversary celebrations for the Élysée Treaty. The idea behind it is to inform young people in particular about the historical and political significance of our Franco-German friendship and to encourage them to learn the partner country's language.

Read more on Germany's bilateral relations to France: