Bristol Hannover Council

** Ambassador Miguel Berger only in post in London since May 2022, made one of his first regional visits to Bristol, to help us celebrate our 75th anniversary along with the 40th anniversary of the Bristol Anglo-German Society.

First Herr Berger visited Airbus, which is an international company with important operations in Germany. He then proceeded into Bristol to City Hall, where he had a series of discussions.

As Mayor Marvin Rees was in Egypt for COP27, he met Deputy Mayor Asher Craig, which was a serendipitous chance, since she had led the official anniversary visit to Hannover in August where a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the mayors and chairs of the two associations, setting out plans for future cooperation.

He also met Caroline Twigg, Head of the International Office, representatives of Investment Bristol and Bath, and members of the City Council Economic Development team.

Busy time for Ambassador Miguel Berger 

Subsequently he had a lively meeting with the Youth Mayors and members of the Youth Council, who presented their three main campaigns – Inclusive Bristol, Your Health Matters and Youth Safety Support – but were happy also to respond to the Ambassador’s suggestion to bring the issue of climate change into their programme.

The evening saw an elaborate celebratory dinner at the Bristol Golf Club, with 50 guests, presided over by the Ambassador, alongside the Lord Lieutenant Peaches

Golding and the Lord Mayor Paula O’Rourke. Herr Berger gave an inspiring afterdinner speech, emphasising the importance of citizen links between the countries of Europe and beyond, especially in these difficult times. The vote of thanks was given by Dr Ann Kennard, chair of Bristol-Hannover Council.

On Friday the Ambassador visited various departments of the University of Bristol, accompanied by Dr Mark Allinson, Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor and President of Bristol Anglo-German Society.

He met the Vice-Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean of Science, before being hosted for a coffee interval by the Modern Languages Department and students.

The visit was rounded off by a visit to the Max Planck Centre for Minimal Biology.

All in all it was a packed 24 hours, but we hope that the Ambassador gained a good flavour of what Bristol has to offer and that he will visit us again soon.

                                                                                                                                                       ANN KENNARD

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