It took place the Saturday 19 September 2026 under the theme ““Education – Growing Up. Learning. Moving Forward.”
(all photos copyright by © Kai Eisentraut)
The beautiful city of Erfurt (Thuringia, Germany) hosted the 13th European Congress of Large Families, organised on this occasion by KRFD, the German association for large families, to mark its 15th anniversary.
Whilst the children took part in various excursions and workshops, the adults gathered to discuss the topic of their children’s education. The congress was opened by Elisabeth Müller, president of KRFD; Radoslaw Waszkiewicz, president of ELFAC; and Mario Voigt, Minister-President of the state of Thuringia.
Two ELFAC Awards Presented in Germany: Seitz Family and Thuringian Large Family Card Honoured
As part of the Family Congress of the German Association of Large Families in Erfurt, two special ELFAC Awards were presented to German recipients on 19 September 2026. The Seitz family received the title “European Large Family of the Year 2026”. The Mehrkindfamilienkarte Thüringen (Thuringian Large Family Card) was honoured as a project in the category “Sustainable Family Support Award.”
With the “European Large Family of the Year” award, the European Large Families Confederation (ELFAC) has recognised large families for 11 years whose lives and commitment exemplify important societal values. Christiane and Volker Seitz from Saarland were honoured for their broad commitment to society, their dedication to the model of family and community, their cultural engagement and their lived solidarity between generations. Dr. med. Christiane Seitz is the mother of nine children and one foster child, aged between 17 and 34, and is now a grandmother of six:
“It is a great honour for us. We are very happy to have been selected for the European Large Family of the Year Award. Not because of the perhaps extraordinary size of our core family, but because of our diverse and colourful commitment and our contribution to society – and not only in terms of having children. Thank you very much.”
The Mehrkindfamilienkarte Thüringen (Thuringian Large Family Card) was recognised as an exemplary project providing sustainable and practical support for families with three or more children. The project was initiated in 2019 by the Association of Large Families in Thuringia and is under the patronage of the Minister-President of Thuringia. At participating cultural and leisure facilities, the card enables large families in Thuringia to receive free admission for children from the third child onwards in addition to the applicable family ticket.
Katrin Konrad, Managing Director of the state association that issues the Mehrkindfamilienkarte Thüringen, said: “We are very proud of this award. Since 2019, we have invested a great deal of energy and heart into this project. We are delighted that this commitment is also being recognised and honoured at European level. We hope that the Mehrkindfamilienkarte will have a signalling effect and inspire similar initiatives across Germany. A nationwide, standardised and targeted large-family card would, in our view, be a financially manageable yet highly effective measure that strengthens the education and participation of all children – regardless of the number of siblings they have.”
The German Association of Large Families sees the Thuringian card as a model with potential beyond the region. The idea is that families with three or more children should not have to wonder with every family ticket whether all of their children are actually included, but should be able to participate together in cultural, educational and leisure activities as a matter of course.
“There could hardly be a better occasion: in the 15th year of the KRFD, our anniversary year, we were able to host a Family Congress here in Thuringia together with our European partners, dedicated to the topic of education, and at the same time celebrate two German award recipients. We are extremely proud and grateful that our European partners have honoured the Seitz family and the Mehrkindfamilienkarte Thüringen. It encourages us to continue on our path and to make the perspectives of large families in Germany and Europe even more visible,” said Dr. Elisabeth Müller, Federal Chairwoman of the German Association of Large Families.
ELFAC President Radoszlaw Waszkiewicz praised the two awards as a sign of the importance of the commitment shown by families and family-support projects across Europe. He also congratulated the German association of large families for ist 15 years working for the recognisement of families with more children.
The congress and the general assembly
The awards ceremony took place as part of the Family Congress “Bildung hoch X – Aufwachsen. Lernen. Weiterkommen.” (“Education – Growing Up. Learning. Moving Forward.”) and was attended by Thuringia’s Minister-President Mario Voigt.
Around 130 participants from large families in Germany and 13 European countries came together. At the same time, the ELFAC General Assembly took place in Erfurt. ELFAC represents large-family organisations from 26 European countries.
After the opening and the awards ceremony congress there were some lectures: “Fun and Risk on the Net” by Erwin Markowsky (8com); “Education” by Prof. G. Thüsing (University of Bonn, German Ethics Council); and a last one by Matthias Jung on “Parenting with Dignity”.
In other room, representatives of ELFAC’s members discussed the objectives and activities for the next term in their annual general assembly.
After the lunch break there were an international panel on education with representatives of ELFAC from Latvia, Poland, Portugal and Sweden, followed by an interesting discussion with German and international participants.