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Peace Prize

hf/pfd, dpa/knaMay 8, 2009

A Berlin theater company and a Bosnian-born Serb have won the 2009 Aachen Peace award for their efforts to resolve conflicts and raise awareness.

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Otmar Steinbicker, the chairman of the Aachen Peace Award at a press conference
The award committee's chairman, Otmar Steinbicker, announced the winners at a press conferenceImage: picture-alliance/ dpa

The choice of the "Berliner Compagnie" for the national award and activist Zdravko Marjanovic for the international award was announced by the chairman of the Aachen Peace Award committee, Otmar Steinbicker.

The Berliner Compagnie and Marjanovic work to promote peace in very different ways, said Steinbicker, but both act as models for non-violent conflict resolution.

2The theater group uses artistic means to engage with conflicts and to help raise awareness," said Steinbicker.

Founded in 1981, the Berliner Compagnie has created 23 pieces for over 2,000 performances tackling nuclear weapons issues, the Israel-Palestine conflict and themes of the third world.

In the midst of the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s, the now 68-year-old Marjanovic organized meetings of Muslims and Serbs, a peace group and a newspaper focused on promoting tolerance.

"Now he is involved with post-war efforts towards reconciliation," said Steinbicker.

Both awards and the 1,000 euros in prize money is to be formally presented in Aachen on September 1.

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