The first members of FISAIC wished to
participate to the prosperity of Europe enriching its cultural dowry. Wish that,
after how it is showed in the anniversary brochure has animated all the members
of the federation, no matter the field in which they have activated in:
instrumental music, chorus, folklore, arts, plastics, Esperanto,
radio-amateurism, philately, photography and film slides, films and videos and
bridge, genealogy, heraldic and railway metal die. All the artistic and cultural
hobbies of the railway employees have encouraged FISAIC. Still in the same
framework there has been manifested the interest for maintaining certain
material values by talking about the history of the railways, materialized in a
series of measures for the conservation of certain wagons, industrial equipments
and buildings illustrating various stages of the evolution of this sector of
activity, which have been restored and given back to the public, and the
achievement of the metal dies, those small examples of technical ingeniousness
that tries to imitated as accurate as possible, at a small scale, of course, the
originals.The 50 years that have passed have abundantly demonstrated the fact that the activity FISAIC has devoted itself to the cooperation on European plan, idea that has become an "up to date" imperative today for the lives of the citizens of this continent.
The beginning has been made on November 15, 1952. In that day, as an answer to the invitation made to Marcel Mollion (France) and to Emile Birbaum (Switzerland), the representatives of the railway employees from the former Federal Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and Syria have set up FISAIC. The answer of the railway employees from the other countries - Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Norway and Sweden - has been an encouraging one: they have considered this project welcomed.
The first general assembly has been held on July 27, 1953, at Paris, where ten countries have sent delegates: Federal Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Yugoslavia, Holland, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Syria, and Denmark, Spain, Italy, Norway and Turkey have sent messages of sympathy. There have been adopted then the status and the inside regulation and there has been set up the first calendar of the manifestation. On September 1953, an international painting exhibition has been organized in Nimes (France) the first FISAIC manifestation.
In 1955 other countries have also adhered: Italy, Sweden, Greece, Turkey, Denmark, Portugal, Israel, Norway, Spain, Great Britain, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, and Romania, in the same year, Syria, Israel and Portugal leaving the Federation.
Today, the calendar of FISAIC manifestations includes cinema, music and folkloric festivals, exhibitions of art and photography and competitions of bridge that are regularly taking place. The philatelists, Esperanto speakers and radio-amateurs have also reunite in independent structures - CID, IFEF and FIRAC, and organize various meetings.
FISAIC is also recorded in the spirit of time, recently creating a web page (www.uaicf.asso.fr/fisaic.htm.), thus enlarging its possibilities of communication with many railway employees from all over the world.
