Every October for over ten years, Stuttgart, the capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, hosts the Armenian Cultural Days. This series of cultural events brings Armenians together, and it has been organized by the Armenian community of Baden-Württemberg since 2011. They not only represent the Armenian culture to Armenians in Germany but also introduce it to Germans. 

Diradur Sardaryan, Parish Priest for Baden-Württemberg, has not only come up with the idea behind this event but has also been actively involved in organizing them for over a decade. During the Armenian Cultural Days, held from October 19 to 29, he shared insights with Caucasus Watch. This year's headline was "Together for Peace," featuring book presentations, concerts, movie screenings, and religious events. 

Initially, the Cultural Days were established to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the independence of the Armenian Republic. Diradur Sardaryan recalls that after the first celebration, both Armenians and Germans urged them to turn it into an annual event. 

 “When we started the Armenian Cultural Days, few institutions knew about the Armenian community. Today, our event together with French and Jewish Cultural Days is among the Fall highlights of Stuttgart,” notes Diradur, mentioning that the Cultural Days have played a crucial role in establishing significant connections, especially in 2016 when Germany's Bundestag passed a resolution on the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian community used the Cultural Days as a platform to discuss the consequences of the resolution. Diradur notes that as a result of those events, the Ministry of Education of Baden-Württemberg initiated projects, leading to the inclusion of the Armenian Genocide in the school textbooks of the German State. 

Diradur says that during the last ten years, they have tried to present the Armenian culture and discuss the problems of Armenians. “The Cultural Days serve as a platform for Armenians to engage with contemporary Armenian art and get to know each other. It is an opportunity to represent the Armenian culture to foreigners. Thus, Armenian culture becomes visible and recognizable to foreigners. Some after the Cultural Days even visit Armenia,” explains Diradur, mentioning that a lot of members of the Armenian community feel lonely. Under the theme "Together for Peace," the Armenian community aims to convey a sense of unity, showing that Armenians stand together as a family and support each other. "And, of course, we need peace. And we joined these two notions. Peace not only means living without wars but also means peace of mind and solidarity. We have witnessed that the recent events in Armenia affected the relations between Armenia and its diaspora and severed them. To overcome that, we need to find peace, we need to listen to each other, we need to come together, and work together for that peace.” 

Things were not the same when Diradur started his service in Germany. Initially, liturgies were only offered in two towns of Baden-Württemberg, but now Armenians can attend liturgies in seven locations. However, the challenge lies in the limited human resources: the Armenian Church is present in all 16 states of Germany, and the six priests serving in Germany travel extensively. “The biggest problem for the Armenian church is to reach people. Armenians are spread all over Germany, and the church doesn’t have the financial means to afford a priest in every German town. We are six priests in Germany, and each of us serves in a fairly large area - we travel 5000-7000 km to reach the communities. We could have used the time that we spent en route differently.” 

The distance is not the only problem. The Armenian community is multilayered, as Armenians come to Germany not only from Armenia but from different parts of the world. According to Diradur Sardaryan, the majority of the community members in Baden-Württember are Turkish-Armenians, and many come from Syria, Ukraine, Lebanon, and, of course, Armenians born and raised in Germany. This situation can cause complications for the priests. “The German priest, when preparing for the sermon, only thinks about the sermon. And we think, in which language shall we prepare the sermon, Armenian or German? If Armenian, then Eastern Armenian or Western Armenian? With classical or modern spelling? These seem to be basic problems, but there are challenges for us,” explains Diradur, adding that every time before the liturgy, he looks at the attendees and thus chooses the language of the ceremony.

Diradur believes that the Armenian church is one of the organized Armenian institutions in Germany. The church celebrates religious and non-religious holidays, and some communities have Sunday schools to teach Armenian children the language, history, and culture. "There are around 5000 Armenians in Baden-Württemberg. They come from different countries and various cultures. It's so interesting that for all of them, the church is like a family home at the same time, they bring their cultural diversity," explains Diradur, mentioning that the church, the belief, and the language unite the Armenians in Germany, even though there are two variations of the language. “We even have people who don’t understand the language, but they come and attend liturgy for two hours so that they can hear the language. Armenians feel that even in a foreign country, they have this place to go where they can finally feel at home.”

The Armenian community in Germany tries to help its compatriots in Armenia. Diradur considers one of their missions to help all those institutions and all those people who do something for Armenia in Armenia. The Cultural Days are a source of support for Armenia. "I believe that we have to be strong communities in the diaspora, organized, with a modern way of thinking that can analyze and solve problems, and healthy communities so that we can help and support Armenia. And, of course, we should pray, love, and respect people. And everything else comes from that sincere respect, sincere love,” Diradur notes. 

Diradur aims to make the Armenian community comprehensible using modern approaches for foreigners and Armenians. “We live in the times of globalization. And if you close yourself, turn into a ghetto, you dig your own grave. We need to be open, to speak about our culture, values, and heritage, share those ideas, and show the people that these values are not only ours but belong to humanity. And more than 230 nations live here [in Baden-Württemberg]. It is an excellent occasion to use that opportunity to speak up about our culture, religion, mission, and also our problems. I try to implement that with the Armenian Cultural Days.”