Philhellene Munich Mayor Honored with the ‘Hellenic-Bavarian Cultural Award’

Christian Ude, the current Mayor of Munich, was honored by the Hellenic community of the city for his work in establishing the Hellenic-Bavarian friendship. The special ceremony took place at the All Saints Church in Munich and the spaces of the Spiritual Center in presence of the Orthodox Metropolitan of Germany Augustine, Archpriest Apostolos Malamousis, General Consul of Greece Sofia Grammata, Hellenic-Bavarian Organizations and Associations, representatives from the Bavarian parliament, Bavaria’s Cardinal Friedrich Wetter and many other eminent Germans and Greeks of Germany.
The Philhellene mayor of Munich is the first ever to receive this award which aims to honor Bavarians who have worked significantly to further Hellenic-Bavarian understanding, solidarity, cooperation and friendship.
Mayor Christian Ude
personally supported the fundraiser for the renovation of the Greek-Orthodox Church Salvatorkirche and urged others to follow his example. He has also offered valuable help to the annual organization “Hellenic-Bavarian Cultural Day,” while he often attends Orthodox liturgies and feast services. Over the past three years, Mayor Ude has expressed his discontent at the negative media coverage aimed at Greece noting that the friendship and the solidarity between the two peoples must grow larger, especially in these critical times.
“He’s proved to be a genuine and true friend of Greece, who doesn’t see our country just as a place of antique spirit and culture, but  who is also familiar with contemporary Greece and loves it the way it is, with its ups and downs, with its mistakes and weaknesses,” Metropolital Augustine pointed out.