Blog Archives

Hannover’s world-renowned Mädchenchor visited Bristol for a short concert as part of their tour of Britain, also singing in Oxford, Cambridge and Gloucester Cathedral. There were over 50 girls singing on this occasion, although the complete choir consists of over 200 from the ages of around 7 to 19; the conductor is Gudrun Schröfel, and the choir has travelled the world, winning many prizes. The concert took place in All Saints Church, Clifton on November 1st, and included music sacred and secular, folk and an encore (with movements) of the Frank Sinatra hit “Witchcraft” as an acknowledgement...

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Bristol Central Library – November 3rd to December 18th 2014 “Changes in Communication and Creativity in a Digital Century” (http://penvolutionhannover.wordpress.com/) PENvolution it is an art project from Hannover made by Hannover artist Kerstin Schulz of Atelier Dreieck. (www.atelier-dreieck.de - in German) It explores the changing way of communicating from the analogue to the digital, from pencils to mobile phones and is touring all of Hannover’s twin cities between 2014-2016. Participating artists and cultural workers currently include: Hannover: Kerstin Schulz, Susanne...

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This special service was held on 20th October, the actual anniversary of the coronation in 1714, in St Martin in the Fields in London in the presence of HRH The Duke of Kent and the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany.   The service marked the 300th anniversary of the beginning of the Hannoverian period, seeking to celebrate he links between Britain and Germany and the start of the Georgian era in Britain, with its arts and architecture and its evolution towards parliamentary democracy. The lessons at the service were those read at George I’s coronation service in Westminster Abbey...

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This year’s AGM was held on October 2nd at the Mansion House, due to the temporary closure of City Hall for refurbishment. The meeting was well attended and was opened by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Alastair Watson, who reported on his recent successful visit with the Lady Mayoress to Hannover with the Guild of Guardians. The Oberbürgermeister Stefan Schostok gave a reception for the party, and the Deputy Mayor took them to see the International Fireworks display at the Herrenhausen Gardens. The Lord Mayor brought back an artwork as a gift from the city. After the necessary official elements...

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The Ariel-Linden Rowing Club partnership is the oldest and most consistent sporting link between the two cities. They visit each other in turn each year, and this year it was the turn of Linden to host Ariel in Hannover. The Ariel team drove to Hannover in a 17-seater minibus, crossing the Channel overnight after work, arriving on Saturday morning 20th September. After a day of sightseeing, they were treated to an evening Dragon boating on the Maschsee. Saturday was ‘Race Day’ and the ‘head race’ introduced by Ariel to Linden was a highlight, with Ariel coming first and second in the mixed...

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The first weekend of September continued its theme of celebration of the Hannover link and the 300th anniversary, with two presentations on Saturday 6th by Julia Carver, Collections Offi cer for Visual Art at the Museum, of 12 prints which had been donated by the Hannover Kunstverein in 1962 as part of an art exchange between the two cities. The prints were found by chance recently and only represented a small part of the original exhibition, but all were by Hannover artists and gave a really fascinating insight into the contemporary art of the post-war era. Sculptures of one of the artists can still...

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On Friday 5th September, St Mary Redcliffe Church was packed for a wonderful return concert given by Bristol’s Exultate Singers, led by David Ogden, and their partner choir, Camerata Vocale Hannover, led by Hans-Dieter Reinecke. They had delighted us with their first concert in the Pauluskirche in Hannover in May, and now it was Bristol’s turn to be host. The concert was entitled “Two Choirs: one Duke, and a golden coach” as a tribute to the 300th anniversary of the Hannoverian accession. The choirs sang music from the 15th to the 21st century, and in German, English, Latin and Estonian!...

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From the Honorary Secretary, Gerard Owen The 54th Jung Königswinter Conference was held between 17th-22nd June 2014 at the Europäische Akademie Berlin and I was greatly honoured to represent the Bristol Hannover Council at the event, which was organised by the Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft. The theme of this year’s Conference was “What kind of EU do we want?” and the results of the European Parliamentary Elections and imminent appointment of the next President of the European Commission provided grounds for intense dialogue. I joined 41 other British and German delegates from...

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Seventeen members and friends of BHC visited Hannover from 22-27th May, our biennial visit, but this time with the special theme of the 300th anniversary of the royal union between our two countries – the ‘Personalunion’. The first day was spent on a guided tour of the wonderfully rebuilt Schloss Herrenhausen, one of the five exhibitions on the royal theme, and subsequently we were able to visit the famed Herrenhausen Gardens – and not only during the day, but also for the Wasserspiele after dark, with colour-floodlit fountains, accompanied by the music of Händel. Day two was taken...

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From our Chair, Dr Ann Kennard I had a fascinating day on Friday May 16th greeting, along with a contingent of 30 or so Germans from Hannover, George I arriving at St James Palace, and then going to Kensington Palace for a glass of bubbly to toast the first Hanoverian King. The ‘King’ then read out a speech in very un-English English, which was very appropriate since George I spoke none initially!  After this we all had a picnic in the grounds of Kensington Palace, and later went round the lovely 'Glorious Georges' exhibition there, which demonstrates the art and decoration of William...

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