Forty years of International Folk Music Council/International Council for Traditional Music means that we already have a history, a comparatively short one, but a real history with high points and low points. I have witnessed over thirty of these years. Don't worry—I am not going to tell you all of my experiences with the ICTM, but I would like to recall a few stories today. Why? Let me say it in the words of the German poet Heinrich Heine: “Der heutige Tag ist ein Resultat des gestrigen. Was dieser gewollt hat, müssen wir erforschen, wenn wir zu wissen wünschen, was jener will”.