230967 com titel gb 02 e

Support for the terror victims
of September 11, 2001
In the midst of the Bavarian Alps lies the
picturesque village of Ettal, with its famous monastery.
Aworld far removed from the bustle of New York and Washington,
full of rural hospitality and peaceful tranquillity. It is to this location that
Commerzbank invited 300 US citizens as its guests last summer, relatives of victims and
people suffering as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and also firefighters.
The aim was not simply to hand over donations but to provide active support, by offering people
relaxation and distraction.
The programme of the 14-day stays included visits to the Zugspitze, the royal castles of
Linderhof and Neuschwanstein, and the Hofbräuhaus, shopping in Munich and
Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the musical “Ludwig II.”, as well as a traditional Bavarian
evening.
The US visitors clearly enjoyed the varied programme and the beautiful landscape;
as one of them said, summing up for the others, it was “like on a postcard”.