News & Events

This year, Germany’s National Day of Mourning or Volkstrauertag was held on Sunday November 15th, to commemorate the bombing of Coventry on that date in 1940. The remembrance ceremony was held in the Bundestag in Berlin, and there was a photograph of Coventry’s bombed-out cathedral in the background. We were alerted to this by our friend Thomas Hermann, mayor of Hannover, telling us that it would be broadcast on ZDF, so it was possible to watch it via satellite TV. Prince Charles was the guest of honour and gave a full and heartfelt speech on British-German friendship, alternating between German...

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On November 12th, in Remembrance week, we had a moving and appropriate online event, which actually should have taken place at the end of the Mayors for Peace exhibition in February, but had to be postponed.  Bristol actor David Collins read poems based on recent conflicts: "What War Does to Us: 1914 until now".  David started the programme with poems from the First World War (the so-called 'Great War'), the horrific starting point of modern total war, with poems of Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and others, and then went on, with new voices, some well known and some not, continuing the same...

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Bristol artists Miss Hazard and The Hass took part virtually in the Hannover Urban Culture Festival last weekend. The artists were chosen from a short list kindly put together by Steve Hayles from Bristol UPFest. An artist from Hannover’s Polish twin town Poznan was also invited. Hannover’s Kulturamt covered the costs and the artists produced special pieces and sent them to Hannover to be included in the Kabine arts centre exhibition. This is the second year Bristol artists have taken part in the festival and everyone hopes next year more stars from Bristol will be there in person.        

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And Launch of the Celebration of 800 years of the Hospital of St Mark, now the Lord Mayor’s Chapel 1220-2020 On Sunday 1st March, BHC Chair Ann Kennard and Secretary Lynne Evans were honoured to attend the Lord Mayor’s Annual Civic Service, which had a very special significance this year, at the start of the 800th anniversary of the Lord Mayor’s Chapel. The Lord Mayor entered the Chapel with the Sword Bearer and Mace Escort provided by the Avon Fire and Rescue Service. The Lord Mayor welcomed the congregation to this historic ceremony, although she was sad to have to mention that the beautiful...

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On Monday February 24th we had our now traditional Karneval celebration, otherwise known as Rosenmontag! We were delighted to welcome the Lord Mayor, Cllr Jos Clark, once again, and as the photos show, she and everyone else had a great time, singing Karneval songs, some of us wearing funny hats, eating delicious German food and enjoying ourselves before the privations of Lent (for some of us) set in!

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An art exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons signed by the USA, the then Soviet Union and the UK in 1968, was opened on February 3rd by Mayor Marvin Rees at the Vestibules, City Hall. The exhibition was initiated by the Mayor of Hiroshima, site of one of two nuclear bomb attacks in 1945, working with its (and our) partner city Hannover, and it has travelled around the 50 Mayors for Peace cities over the past two years. The concept of the Stuttgart artist Klaudia Dietewich is to show small everyday traces of human activity in these...

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We were delighted to be able to arrange for the Lord Mayor, Cllr Jos Clark, to visit the Bauhaus Exhibition, which was earlier reported after the Evening with Crofton Gane in October.  The Lord Mayor was most interested in this important aspect of Bristol’s artistic history.  After an introduction to the present day gallery by Julia Donnelly, the Centre Manager, we were given a fascinating history by Chris Yeo first of the building on Park Row, which used to be the confectionery shop for the Princes Theatre, which was sadly destroyed by bombing in the Second World War.  Ken Stradling, a lifetime...

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It may have been a bit damp and cold outside, but we were nice and cosy inside the Jägerbarn again – 37 of us – and enjoyed the traditional lunch of Wurst, Kartoffelsalat and Sauerkraut, well washed down with a couple of beakers of delicious Glühwein! The Lord Mayor, Cllr. Jos Clark, was delighted that her hectic Christmas schedule allowed her and her consort to have a hearty meal before moving on to her next event! Frohe Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr wuenschen wir unseren Mitgliedern und Freunden!

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On January 8th, Paul Seath, son of Edward Seath, had his 80th birthday.  Edward Seath was one of the Famous Five men who went to Hannover in 1947 to extend the hand of friendship to the Hannoverians, and thus started the now 72 year old friendship between the two cities.  Paul’s daughter Fiona and his wife Elfriede organised a party for him to include his many friends, especially from the music world, and kindly invited the Hannover Chair, Ann Kennard and her husband Tony, to come along as part of the family’s past.  It was a very enjoyable social occasion, with delicious food thrown in. ...

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Nov 28th – Dec 1st 2019 This was the 42nd year of our annual exchange with VFL Eintracht. Once again a great weekend was had by all with a busy programme. On Friday we visited the Zoo, which is always popular: walked across the Suspension bridge; lunched at McDonalds and shopped at the Mall, Cribbs Causeway.               As our parents had to work on Friday and the gymnasts had school we had to hire a minibus to drive the German girls around. This was made possible by a generous donation of £200 from the Bristol-Hannover...

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