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About Us

We at Happy Aliens help foreign citizens in the city of Erlangen to find their way in Germany. This is a community that goes beyond the traditional diaspora: we want everyone to find a home in our city, regardless of their mother tongue.

Our Story

Erlangen is a city with an outstanding history of coexistence and integration of foreign citizens. However, it is not uncommon for talented newcomers and their family members to be unable to relate to society in the city. As a result, entire families move away. Immigrant women, who later became founding members of Happy Aliens, were particularly aware of the relevance of this problem.

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World events since 2022 have deprived millions of people of their homes. Many moved to Erlangen to find a new home. Our founding members sensed their own impact and strong helpfulness being close to those affected: after all, they could all communicate with each other in the same language. It served as a catalyst for the idea of the association: the first step in building bridges between the new arrivals and the locals is to overcome the language barrier.

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The city of Erlangen also recognizes the importance of our association. Peter Steger, the partnership officer at the time, wrote: “There can't be enough initiatives like this if all the talent that Erlangen receives with every new arrival - far too often unrecognized - is to be used.”

 

We know that: Support should be versatile. To help our fellow citizens settle in Erlangen, we organize individual support from experts and, above all, community activities: From yoga and painting classes to intellectual games and concerts. We involve both new residents and native German speakers, both as participants and tutors - because we know that integration thrives on solidarity. We are happy to seek support for this.

Our mission

Our values are:

  • Community of the city of Erlangen, multicultural and democratic

  • Openness for all

  • Right to self-realization

  • Art and culture are not a luxury

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We realize our values by engaging in the following areas:

  • the promotion of art and culture;

  • the promotion of education, popular and vocational training, including student aid;

  • promoting aid for people persecuted for political, racial or religious reasons, for refugees, displaced persons, ethnic German resettlers, ethnic German repatriates, war victims, survivors of war, war invalids and prisoners of war, civilian invalids and disabled persons as well as aid for victims of crime; promoting the memory of persecuted persons, victims of war and disasters; promoting the search service for missing persons, promoting aid for people who are discriminated against on the basis of their gender identity or gender orientation

  • the promotion of an international outlook, tolerance in all areas of culture and international understanding;

  • the promotion of equal rights for women and men;

  • the promotion of sport (chess is considered a sport).

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Founding Members

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