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Continental
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| The History of the Continental European Region of Alcoholics Anonymous
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General history of AA |
Evolution of CER
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| 1940 | February | First World Service Office for AA |
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| 1944 | June | The AA Grapevine is first published | |
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| 1941 | to 1945 | World War II AA's in Armed Services abroad |
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| 1946 | The 12 Traditions of AA formulated and published | ||
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| 1948 |
All AA groups are loner groups in Germany and registered with GSO New York | ||
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| 1948 | Meetings in Bremen and in Frankfurt at Central Chapel Headquarters | ||
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| 1950 | Bill W. and Lois visit Europe | ||
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| 1950 | July | First International Convention of AA at Cleveland. The 12 Traditions are adopted | |
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| 1950 | November 16th | Dr. Bob (co-founder of AA) dies | |
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| 1952 | First AA Roundup in Wiesbaden American High School | ||
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| 1953 | June | The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 x 12) is published | |
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| 1953 | November 2nd | Hotel Leopold Munich | |
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| 1954 | October | The "Alcoholic Foundation" becomes the "General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous" | |
| ----- | 1955 | July 20th | Anniversary Convention in Saint Louis, MO |
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| 1957 | Creation of First Overseas General Service Board of Alcoholics Ano nymous in Great Britain and Ireland; "AA Comes of Age" published | AA membership soars to over two-hundred thousand people, with more than 7000 groups in seventy countries and US possessions. | |
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| 1959 | AA Publishing, Incorporated becomes AA World Services, Incorporated | ||
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| 1960 | July 25th | Anniversary Convention in Long Beach, CA. | |
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| 1962 | Publication of the "12 Concepts for World Service" written by Bill W. | ||
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| Invitation extended to Bill W. and Lois to attend the 10th Annual Roundup in Wiesbaden | |||
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| AA meetings started in Hamburg (with the help of Mr. Abel from England) and in Düsseldorf (with the assistance of Robert from Chicago). [information extracted from the German Archives] | |||
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| First AA meeting at the South Side Chapel at Ramstein Air Base. | |||
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| Twenty active meetings are listed in the AA World Directory with about 170 members. | |||
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| 1963 | First AA meeting in Berlin (information provided by Ed from Zehlendorf) | ||
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| Meetings in Bad Kreuznach and Aschaffenburg | |||
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| 1964 | October 11th | First meeting of the Greater Frankfurt Area Intergroup, which consisted one German and seven American groups | |
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| 1965 | July | Change of the ratio of trustees of the General Serivce Board (now two-thirds majority of Alcoholic members). The AA Fellowship accepts top responsibilities for all its future affairs | |
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| 1967 | Publication of the book "The AA Way of Life", now called "As Bill Sees It" |
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| 1969 | First World Serivce Meeting held in New York with delegates from fourteen countries | Munich | |
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| 1970 | Thirty-fifth Anniversary Convention held in Miami Beach, FL | ||
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| 1971 | January 24th | William Griffith Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, dies in Miami Beach, FL. | |
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| 1971 | November 26th | First Intergroup meeting held at Sembach Air Base; the existing groups were divided into six areas, each area having its own Chairperson who is to be present at the Intergroup meetings | |
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| 1972 | Second World Service meeting is held in New York. | ||
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| Doctor Jack Norris, the non-alcoholic trustee, is sent from GSO New York to Germany to contact the military and meet with Intergroup members in Wiesbaden and Semback | |||
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| 1973 | Publication of "Came to Believe" | Intergroup Continental Europe grows to nine areas | |
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| Meetings in Mannheim and Bamberg | |||
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| 1973 | April | Distribution of the book "Alcoholics Anonymous" reaches the one million mark | |
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| 1973 | June 30th to July 1st | First Intergroup Roundup in Wiesbaden | |
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| 1974 | Intergroup Roundup in Lahr | ||
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| 1975 | Publication of "Living Sober" | German-American Roundup in Kassel, Germany | |
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| 1975 | June 1st | English-speaking Convention in Brussels | |
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| 1975 | September 25th | First AA meeting in Rome at the US Embassy | |
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| 1975 | First AA meeting in Den Haag, Holland | ||
| ----- | 1976 | Publication of the Third Edition of the book "Alcoholics Anonymous" | First AA meeting in Naples, Italy |
| 1977 | Holland joins Intergroup Continental Europe | ||
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| 1979 | Frankfurt International group celebrates its 25th Anniversary | ||
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| 1980 | Regionalization of GSO in Great Britain occurs |
Intergroup is invited by GSO Great Britain to send 2 delegates to conference at Manchester | |
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| A letter is sent to New York GSO to clarify where Intergroup belongs | |||
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| GSO Great Britain extends an invitation to Continental Intergroup to become a Region in GSO Great Britain | |||
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| 1980 | to 1981 | Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Switzerland and Paris become Areas in Intergroup Continental Europe | |
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| 1981 | Intergroup Continental Europe cooperates with GSO Great Britain in planning the First European Service Meeting and since then held every two years in the Fall. Intergroup Continental Europe is represented by two delegates from each Area | ||
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| Intergroup Continental Europe now has twelve Areas | |||
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| Bad Tölz and Munich are combined to become Area XIII | |||
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| 1985 | Jack G. of GSO Great Britain visits meeting in Nürnberg | ||
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| Intergroup Continental Europe now has fifteen Areas | |||
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| 1985 | August 3-4 | Jack G. from London attends the restructure of Intergroup Continental Europe as a Region in Service Structure of Great Britain | |
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| 1988 | At the GS Conference in York, England, Intergroup Continental Europe is accepted as the fifteenth Region in the Service Structure of Great Britain | The three new Intergroups (Intergroup I, Intergroup II, and Intergroup III) become Region fifteen in the the Service Structure of Great Britain | |
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| 1988 | October 5th | Lois Burnam Wilson dies | |
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| 1990 | District I joins Region as Intergroup IV | ||
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| 1991 | Intergroups form Areas for better communication and distances | ||
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| 1994 | Intergroups I-IV dissolve, and form new Intergroups: | ||
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| 1995 | General Service Conference approves new Region title now Continental European Region |
Now Continental European Region | |
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| 2001 | April | General Service Conference question the feasibility of Continental European Region in Service Structure of Great Britain | Continental European Region receives full approval as a Region in the Service Structure of GSO Great Britain |
Sources:
Archivist, Continental European Region
December, 2001
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