City invites you to peace vespers in St George's Church

On Sunday, 14 December 2025, the city of Bocholt invites you to the "Peace Vespers - Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich" in St. Georg Church at 5 pm. The project choir "Städtepartnerschaften" Bocholt and the choir "Vision" from Dinxperlo (Netherlands) are jointly organising an atmospheric choir and organ concert for peace. Admission is free; a donation for the Ukrainian solidarity partner city of Verkhniodniprovsk is requested afterwards.

All citizens from Bocholt, the region and the neighbouring Dutch communities are cordially invited to join together to set a sign of peace and experience a special musical Advent evening in St. Georg.

The vespers of peace is all about understanding across borders. The project choir "Städtepartnerschaften" brings together singers from Bocholt who are committed to a lively, European togetherness, especially around Bocholt's twin towns. The project choir is organising a joint concert with the choir "Vision" from Dinxperlo for the first time.

Under the motto "Give us peace graciously", both choirs want to set a sign of hope and solidarity in the special atmosphere of St George's Church - also with regard to the people in the Ukrainian city of Verkhniodniprovsk. After the concert, a collection will be taken at the doors for the people of Verkhniodniprovsk.

Varied programme

The programme for Peace Vespers combines classical church music, traditional Advent hymns and modern pop songs. The evening will open with the organ composition "Wake up, the voice calls us" by Johann Gottfried Walther. The project choir "Städtepartnerschaften" sings canons such as "Glory and Praise" and "Dona nobis pacem" as well as prayers for peace such as "Dona pacem, Domine" (Luigi Cherubini). Later, Advent and Marian hymns such as "Rorate", "Maria durch ein Dornwald ging" and "Ave Maria" (Simon Sechter) will be performed.

Vision choir sings gospel and pop songs

The choir "Vision" from Dinxperlo contributes soulful and modern pieces, including "In this heart", "The night will always win" and "Helplessly hoping". Several organ pieces - for example by Enrico Pasini and Friedrich Burgmüller as well as an improvisation on "Hedwig's Theme" by John Williams contribute to the multi-faceted programme. At the end of the programme, both choirs sing "Daughter of Zion, rejoice" and "We wish you a Merry Christmas" with the congregation.

Donations for Verkhniodniprovsk - thanks to the supporters

At the end of the peace vespers, a donation is requested for projects as part of the solidarity partnership with the Ukrainian city of Verkhniodniprovsk. The city of Bocholt would like to send a visible signal of support and help to improve the living conditions of the local people.

The organisation of the Peace Vespers is also made possible by the support of local partners such as the Rudolf and Margot Ostermann Foundation, Stadtsparkasse Bocholt and Volksbank Bocholt eG, Tekloth GmbH and Sven Pieron. The concert is made possible by the Interreg programme Germany-Netherlands and its programme partners and co-financed by the European Union (EU).