Paderborn – Twice as many as expected attended the first regional NRW day in Paderborn at the weekend. According to the police, the number of visitors should rise to around 600,000 by yesterday evening, the State Chancellery in Düsseldorf announced. Minister-President Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) spoke of an “overwhelming response”: people from all parts of the country had come to Paderborn’s city center. Around 8,000 visitors came to the highlight of the festival, a performance by rock star Sasha.
“People feel like North Rhine-Westphalians, although of course they remain Westphalians, Lippe or Rhinelanders,” said Rüttgers. This showed the growing identification of the people with their federal state. The festival in Paderborn was supposed to tie in with the 2006 Citizens’ Festival, where more than two million visitors celebrated the state’s 60th birthday in Düsseldorf.
Caption: Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers with the plaque commemorating NRW Day
Photo: dpa
To the plaque .