Naturalization ceremony in Hof town hall
Last Monday, a naturalization ceremony took place in the Great Hall of the City of Hof, where Mayor Eva Döhla and numerous guests of honor, including Mayor Angela Bier and Mayor Sebastian Auer, welcomed the newly naturalized citizens of Hof. In her speech, Mayor Döhla emphasized the important role of the city and the volunteers for successful integration: "I would like to thank the city administration, the social associations and the many volunteers who make integration in Hof so successful with their tireless efforts. Their support and the numerous services offered by the city community create an environment in which everyone feels welcome and valued."
A highlight of the event was the introduction of Adel Fattal and Heba Abdullah. Adel Fattal, originally from Aleppo in Syria, has a degree in biochemistry and learned German through YouTube. In Hof, he helped others as an interpreter and reached C1 level in German thanks to a scholarship from the AWO. He is currently training as an office administrator in Hof. Heba Abdullah, also from Syria, worked there as a lawyer and is currently working for Diakonie in the project "Housing for all, integration needs a home". Their CVs illustrate the successful integration path that many of the new German citizens have taken.
In his speech, Udo Jahreiß, Head of the Citizens' Office, highlighted the increasing number of naturalization applications. While there were still around 70 applications a year a few years ago, almost 200 naturalizations were carried out between November 2023 and April 2024. For this reason, the naturalization ceremony took place in the middle of the year this time and not at the end of the year as usual.
The ceremony was accompanied by music from accordion duo Adrian Stieglitz and Simon Zimmerling and ended with the joint singing of the national anthem. The city of Hof is delighted to celebrate the successes and life journeys of the newly naturalized citizens and looks forward to their future together with confidence.
German naturalization law was recently modernized to make the path to citizenship easier. Since June 27, 2024, people can be naturalized after just five years of legal residence, and even after three years if they have made a special effort to integrate. It is now also possible to retain the previous citizenship.
People from around 130 nations live in Hof. Numerous programs and services such as language courses and advisory services help new arrivals to settle into the community and actively participate. Tolerance and diversity are core values that characterize coexistence in Hof. The Syrian-Turkish theater project at Theater Hof and Christopher Street Day are just a few examples of how these values are lived and promoted in the city of Hof.