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District Administrator congratulates Akmut couple
GROSS-GERAU DISTRICT – 75 years of marriage – that's the diamond jubilee. District Administrator Thomas Will congratulated Sevim and Demir Akmut on this anniversary on Thursday, January 2nd, in Rüsselsheim. Unfortunately, he could only present the bouquet of flowers and the certificate to Demir Akmut, who is over 90 years old, as his wife was ill and therefore unable to attend the visit, as their sons Erdal and Mehmet explained.
The couple celebrating their anniversary have seven children. Five of the six brothers live with their families in close proximity in Rüsselsheim. On January 1st, they celebrated not only their parents' wedding anniversary together, but also Mehmet's birthday. In Anatolia, where the Akmuts come from, there were no doctors or hospitals for a long time, says Mehmet Akmut: "Those were hard times." The calendar played less of a role than the seasons; people tended to remember specific natural events, such as the great earthquake in Eastern Anatolia in 1966. For the sake of convenience, a birth or wedding date was sometimes simply entered as January 1st for official purposes.
During the district administrator's visit, the sons spoke Kurdish with the man celebrating his birthday. "The first generation of 'guest workers' kept to themselves. They also lacked the time to learn German," Erdal Akmut told the district administrator. Demir Akmut came to Germany in 1969 to earn money, initially working in agriculture in the Cologne-Bonn area. Later, he went to work for Opel, where he ultimately worked on the assembly line. He lived in Flörsheim from 1980 to 1989, then in Rüsselsheim. Gradually, his family joined him in Germany. Today, the couple has 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
During the visit of the district administrator, an open conversation quickly developed on many topics – from family history to the upcoming federal elections to the situation in Syria, from the district administrator's bicycle trips (once also to Istanbul), to the hospitality and culture in eastern Turkey, to the future prospects of young people in Germany.
(PS/GG)
Photo: County Commissioner Thomas Will conveyed his congratulations to Demir Akmut and his wife on their diamond wedding anniversary. Photo: County Administration
