In Bad Homburg, the center of the Hochtaunus region not far from Frankfurt, on Friday, June 3, a large award ceremony of the “Večernjakova domovnica 2022” was held, which has been successfully organized by Stipe Puđa for 16 years. Numerous guests from the world of politics, sports, culture, music, members of numerous Croatian communities in the world gathered at the prestigious Kurhaus Congress Hall.
This year’s “Večernji list” newspapers awards ceremony was also held under the sponsorship of the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Gordan Grlić Radman, and under the sponsorship of the Croatian Heritage Foundation.
The names of the winners of the 16th Večernjak’s selection in the category of sports, music, acting and showbiz, chosen by readers of Večernji list and Fenix-magazine, together with readers of partner portals from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and a jury of journalists and professional associates, were already known in March when the award ceremony was to take place, but due to restrictive measures, it was postponed to June.
The Mayor of Bad Homburg, Alexander Hetjes, did not hide his feelings and expressed that everyone must had been missing his interesting and significant event last year when it had not been held due to the pandemic, and later on canceled in March, because everyone already knew how the “Večernjakova domovnica” Award ceremony was traditionally held in that month, and Croats would have “occupied” the city for a few days.
– The annual award ceremony of “Večernjakova domovnica” of the Croatian daily “Večernji list” is not only the most important social event for people of Croatian roots living in Europe, but also a big and exciting event for Bad Homburg, which I always look forward to. Not even in Bad Homburg does it happen so often that a red carpet is spread in front of our Kurhaus and that we can welcome stars from sports and culture here. However, I also consider meetings at the administrative level important. It is always a welcome opportunity to talk about partnership, friendship and united Europe. For me, therefore, the celebration is another important component of the extraordinary partnership of the two cities. Joint meetings, whether at the administrative level or among citizens, have recently regained importance. Especially in times like these, you realize how important good understanding among people is. You have to face each other; you have to talk to each other and you have to be able to trust each other. That is how trust develops, and how it grows into friendship, said Alexander Hetjes.
The mayor of Bad Homburg himself states that not only do the Croatian homeland and its emigrants meet at the “Domovnica” awards, but also Germans, Croatian friends and members of other nations.
Hetjes is right because people from all over the world came to the award ceremony: from Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria and even America, and the event was covered by German and Croatian media, which was greeted on behalf of Večernji list by editor-in-chief, Dražen Klarić.
-“Večernjakova domovnica” gathered Croats living outside Croatia for the sixteenth time. Inspirational stories of young people who have established themselves in the countries where they live and at the same time, remain firmly connected with the homeland, said Dražen Klarić.
On her own behalf and on behalf of Minister Gordan Grlić Radman, the guests were greeted by the Special Adviser to the Minister of Foreign and Internal Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, Vanda Babić Galić, in Bad Homburg, where for the 16th time, of which 15 years in this hall, “Večernjakova domovnica” was held. She pointed out that she was happy and delighted to convey the greetings of the big sponsor of this selection, Minister Gordan Grlić Radman, PhD, who greatly appreciated this gathering, as well as every effort of the Croatian emigrant community.
– And our community has always been an important, sometimes crucial, wheel in its commitment and care for homeland Croatia, which knew how to appreciate it and which is sincerely grateful to you for that, said Vanda Babić Galić, emphasizing that the Homeland is much more than awards and printed paper.
– It is the essence of ourselves and what we all carry within us as our fundamental determinant. I will therefore quote the words of one winner which are “there is no greater pride than the Homeland award”, and I would also add that there is “no greater love for Croatia than the one in a Croatian emigrant heart”. Therefore, let this “small assembly of Croatian emigrants”, as Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović called this “Večernjak” gathering in this hall in Bad Homburg in 2018, continue to be a beacon and a path by which we will connect in a common intention and goal of strengthening and building in all fields of Lijepa Naša, said Babić Galić.
“Večernjakova domovnica” has always played host to important Croatian politicians, and this year’s guest was Marija Vučković, the Minister of Agriculture, who gave a speech and signed the Golden Book of the city of Bad Homburg. She emphasized the importance of an event such as “Večernjakova domovnica”.
The guests were also greeted by Tomislav Šimičević, Head of the Office of the President of the Croatian Parliament Gordan Jandroković, Marko Potrebica, President of the Dubrovnik City Council, Gordan Bakota, Croatian Ambassador to Berlin, and among many distinguished guests was former Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and the International Secretary of the HDZ, Dr. Miro Kovač, and the Deputy Director of the Croatian Heritage Foundation, Ivan Tepeš, who presented one of the awards.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the friendship between the cities of Dubrovnik and Bad Homburg, “Večernjakova domovnica” was attended by the
This year’s “Večernji list” newspapers awards ceremony was held under the sponsorship of the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Gordan Grlić Radman, and under the sponsorship of the Croatian Heritage Foundation, and the Deputy Director of the Croatian Heritage Foundation, Dr. Ivan Tepeš, presented one of the awards
President of the City Council of Dubrovnik Marko Potrebica and the Head of the Administrative Department for European Funds, Regional and International Cooperation, Zrinka Raguž, honorary citizen of Bad Homburg, Niko Pavlović, representatives of the Folklore Ensemble “Linđo” with director Vlaho Kljunko, Dubrovnik Public Fire Station Firefighters with Commander Stjepko Krilanović and Božo Burić on behalf of the Tourist Board of the City of Dubrovnik.
A donation from firefighters and the city of Bad Homburg to valuable and useful firefighting equipment for extinguishing electric cars was handed over to the Dubrovnik Firefighters at “Večernjakova domovnica”.
Apart from the people of Dubrovnik, a delegation from Mostar comes to Bad Homburg every year. It was the same this year. The delegation of the city of Mostar, led by the mayor Mario Kordić, as well as the director of the Mostar Airport, Ivan Ljubić, were present at “Večernjakova domovnica”.
It is tradition for war members of the 2nd Guards Brigade “Gromovi” (“Thunders”), the legendary “Green Berets”, to be guests of “Večernjakova domovnica”. This year, too, they participated in a gala dinner.
The Association of Veterans of the 2nd Guards Brigade “Gromovi” awarded the organizer of “Večernjakova domovnica”, Stipe Puđa, with a recognition letter for supporting the work of the association and promoting the truth about the Homeland War and connecting expatriates and Croatian from the Homeland. Former member of the 2nd Guards Brigade, Dario Holenda, also received a recognition letter from the Association for organizing assistance to the earthquake-affected area in Petrinja.
The program was successfully hosted by Dora Puđa, a student of International Relations from Vienna, and Ognjen Golubić, the host of HTV’s morning program.
In the musical part of the program, the famous Croatian singer Đani Stipaničev, the musical and married couple Paula and Đelo Jusić Junior performed. Katarina Mihaljević, the winner of this year’s “Večernjakova domovnica” from Darmstadt, Germany, had her premiere performance at the Domovnica. With his performance, he delighted the Folklore Ensemble Linđo together with the male a capella group Klapa Fa Linđo.
“Večernjakova domovnica” in 2022 was given to Ana Maria Marković, football player, Grasshopper Club Zürich, Joško Gvardiol, football player, RB Leipzig, Andrej Kramarić, football player, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, kickboxer from Wiesbaden Manuel Bodrožić, SV Croatia Griesheim from Darmtart, Croatia Stuttgart, HSK Croatia from Singen, the already mentioned singer Darko Capo and singer Katarina Mihaljević, Women’s Klapa “Filiae Croatiae” from Stuttgart, actor Ante Brekalo from Munich, actress Stela Katić from Stuttgart, young Ana Martinović who is a model from Nersingen and dancer Laura Amalija Žeželj from Heilbronn.
Representatives of Croatia Fermoy from Ireland, the Association of Croats “Golubica” (“Dove”) from Zollernalbkreis B-W, the Croatian Classes Mainz and the Croatian Cultural Association Mainz and the Folklore Ensemble “Kolo Slavuj” (“Nightingale Kolo”) from Vienna also came for the “Večernjak” Award.
Special awards were given to the editors of the monograph “Tragovi vjere i ljubavi” (“Traces of Faith and Love”) — 40 years of life and work of Fr. Marinko Vukman in Germany, Fr. Šimun Markulin and Fr. Ante Akrap, researcher of the phenomenon “Croatan Indians” Fr. Šimun Šito Ćorić and a group of American researchers and authors: prof. Dr. George Jure Prpich and Adam Eterovich and Jesse D. Harris, Elisabeth C. Hirschman and James A. Vance.
In the “Person of the Year” category, the award was received by Čedo Paić, a well-known Croatian humanitarian from the Netherlands.
All award winners are successful individuals, clubs and associations who, through their work and perseverance and the results they achieve, successfully spread the Croatian name in the world.
Text: Marijana Dokoza