News & Events

Bristol Hannover Council chairperson Dr Ann Kennard recently received a message from the German Ambassador stating: “the President of the Federal Republic of Germany has decided to confer upon Dr Kennard the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.” This is a great honour for Ann and very much deserved given her tireless work on behalf of the twinning with Hannover and Anglo German relations in general. The award was made by Ambassador Peter Wittig at his residence in London on July 11th in the presence of 26 of Ann's family members and friends. The Ambassador gave...

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Two years in the planning, finally 20 young people arrived from Hannover, with six youth workers and artists, to visit Bristol for a programme of different activities, but especially to take part in 2 days of graffiti workshops with a local graffiti artist. This culminated in an exhibition at The Station, where they also stayed at the YMCA hostel. The visit, led by Marco Leitschuh from Hannover City Council, was coordinated by Alix Hughes, twinnings supremo at the International Office of Bristol City Council, and the programme was organised by Faye Keane of Young Bristol and Emma Rigby of the Creative...

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Well, our group of Hannover enthusiasts had an action-packed visit from 27th June to 2nd July this year! This weekend had been chosen in order that we could enjoy the world-famous ‘Schützenfest’, initiated in the 14th century, with its parade of Hannover’s different associations, shooting and otherwise, on the Sunday – 12,000 marchers! This was preceded by the uniquely named ‘Bruchmeisterverpflichtung’ at the Rathaus on Friday evening, where the Lord Mayor annually appoints the 4 ‘Bruchmeister’ who have been tasked for several centuries with ensuring the controlled and orderly...

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A group of young people including our youth Mayor visited Hannover in early late May as part of the Youth Democracy project with partners Politik zum Anfassen. Funded by the EU Erasmus scheme the 19 young people and four youth workers spent three days in workshops in a school in Hannover looking at different elements of the democratic process in Hannover. They also enjoyed visiting the city using the trams and came away with an excellent impression of our twin city. The Hannover group will be in Bristol in October for a conference and a busy social programme as well as meeting some of our councillors...

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This month Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees met French and German Consul Generals during their visit to Bristol to look at how Bristol is supporting the delivery of Settlement Scheme for French and German citizens living in Bristol.               Left to right: Herr Loeffler (German Consul General) Mayor Rees, Mon. Bazard (French Consul General)                 Left to right: Tim Illston (Hon German Consul), Herr Loeffler, Mayor Rees, Mon. Bazard and Josette leBrat (Hon...

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A team from Bristol-Hannover Council took part in the annual quiz between Bristol's seven twinnings. This time five of the twinnings were present for the quiz, which was hosted by last year's winners, the Bristol Link with Nicaragua (BLINC) at the Eastfield Inn, Henleaze. Five of the twinnings took part this year, and the winners were the Bristol China Partnership, with Bristol-Hannover Council coming an honourable second! We look forward to the BCP's quiz hosting in 2020!

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Ten artists in response to the European legacy of Twinning met for the first time in July 2018 for an exhibition at the TURBA gallery in Hannover. Five Hannover artists then exhibited in Bristol for the first time in spring 2019. This was the second exhibition of new contemporary works diversely created in the twin cities of Hannover and Bristol. A group of Bristol Hannover members attended the opening of this exhibition at the Centrespace Gallery and met the artists from BV studios Bristol and their partners from TURBA in Hannover. The exhibition is a reflection on current times through,...

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We had a great night on Monday 4th March at the Black Swan (Westbury-On-Trym). Rosenmontag is a big party to enjoy the last days before the privations of Lent – in other parts of Europe better known as Mardi Gras. The centre of the German Karneval is in Köln (Cologne), with an enormous procession, which takes place on the Monday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. A fine buffet together with music (including song sheets) and projections of an actual event in 2016 (attended by Ann & Tony) made sure fun was had by all! The Rosenmontag 'Zug' (procession) has many floats, some of them...

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We were delighted to welcome back BHC member, Peter Davey, Bristol’s unique ‘tram man’ to recount the story of Bristol’s trams, sadly no longer visible in the city, though other cities like Sheffield and Nottingham have decided that trams are an excellent way of transporting large numbers of people quickly round the city. In Bristol the first trams were seen on St Michael’s Hill in 1875 (where the current Zero Degrees restaurant is situated) and the last one went up Whiteladies Road on 15th June 1939. Electric trams were to be seen on Old Market Street as early as 1895, run from the Bristol...

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The final talk in the series by our member Colin Evans, tracing the development of German art in the 20th Century looked at the contribution German artists are making in the world of contemporary art. The work of this eclectic group reflects the traumatic times they have lived through but the creative way in which they represent this also offers a beacon of hope for a more positive future. As international artists their standing is second to none and we could see why when we examined the works of five of them: Josef Beuys 1921-1986 and Rebecca Horn, born 1944, both noted for sculpture, performance...

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