Blog Archives

Later this year it is hoped that 2 exhibitions will be held as part of the 70th anniversary celebrations – the first is to bring the ‘Honouring Esther’ Holocaust exhib ition from Bath – BHC supported this project, which concerned the re-creation of a Death march of women from Hannover to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in February 1945. The second is to bring an exhibition first shown in Hannover in 2012, compiled by our good friend Helga Wawra of the Hannover-Bristol Gesellschaft, to show the history of the link between the two cities. The first showing was to celebrate the 65th anniversary,...

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Bristol-Hannover members have been busy both giving and attending lectures on a variety of topics: First came Colin Evans, with a talk at Stoke Lodge, on The Art of the Weimar Republic, which was lively and colourful, and greatly appreciated by the 20 or so members and friends who attended. Mark Allinson gave a talk, also at Stoke Lodge to about 20 people on ‘Christmas in the GDR’ which turned out to be very revealing, often comical, of the attempts by the GDR regime to find a non-religious thematic explanation, for the festival of Christmas! They also made a doubtless impressive film...

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On Sunday December 11th, a record number of 36 members and friends joined us for our annual Christmas lunch in Broadmead at the Christmas market. The new company treated us superbly, we were very comfortable and warm, and after some Spekulatius biscuits to start us off, enjoyed a goodly portion of Wurst (or veggie equivalent), Sauerkraut and Kartoffelsalat, washed down with 2 very welcome beakers of Glühwein – we drank a toast to John Veale, our old friend who had recently died. We look forward to a great celebration at the end of the 70th anniversary celebrations this year!

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Friday 20th January sees the launch of our celebrations of 70 years of friendship between Bristol and Hannover (also Bordeaux) at M-Shed (below).  The Lord Mayor, Cllr. Jeff Lovell, will open the proceedings, and the programme includes performances in German and French from Bristol schoolchildren, stories of long-term friendships with both cities and contributions by the French and German Honorary Consuls, as well as the Chairs of Bristol-Hannover Council and the Association Bordeaux-Bristol.  Later in the year there will be other events: a concert of French and German music at Colston Hall,...

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Bristol Hannover Council has lost its stalwart member. Dr John Veale sadly passed away on 6th December (St Nicholas Day) in Southmead hospital after a short illness. John who had received the German Medal of Honour from the German Government a few years ago, had gone to Hannover as a young school student in 1949 and had witnessed first-hand the devastation wreaked on that city. John was later to write his memoirs about his professional and personal life devoted to Anglo-German relationships, the twinning with Hannover and his lifelong friends in Hannover. Despite being a Bristol Rovers fan John...

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** 'Anniversary II: The Return' was accomplished in mid-September when members of the Bristol-Hannover youth exchanges of the mid-1960s emulated last year's initial friendship revival. Last year German members of the 1965 and 1966 exchanges spent a long weekend in Bristol happily reviving memories and friendships with their long-ago hosts. The event was such a success that, even before the Hannoverians flew home, a date for a Bristolian return had been agreed. Hence a party of 19 flew to Hannover on Friday, September 9, to enjoy the remarkable heat of the late German summer and the warmth...

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Bristol City Councillor Kye Dudd visited Hannover on 16th September on official business to discuss strengthening the relationship between the two city councils in light of the BREXIT vote and the upcoming 70th anniversary in 2017. Councillor Dudd met with Councillor Robert Nicholls who is also the chairman of the Hannover Bristol Association and with the Oberbürgermeister Stefan Schostok (see photos) as well as attending a session of Hannover City Council’s Culture Committee. Councillor Dudd also privately met with colleagues from the SPD and the German TUC in Hannover as part of his programme. ...

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This was the first visit which was organised under the Chairmanship of Councillor Robert Nicholls, and the last visit before we celebrate together the 70th anniversary of the twinning partnership between our two cities! 15 members of Bristol-Hannover Council visited Hannover this summer, the group consisting of long-serving members (the longest being John Veale, who first visited Hannover in 1949) and also a number of new members, who had never visited our partner city before. The programme which the Gesellschaft put on for us was splendid, very varied and of great interest to both ‘old’ and ’new’...

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The Bristol Hannover Council is supporting a six week community development placement for Hannover volunteer Nicole Friedlein. Nicole is here to improve her English and is picking up some choice Bristolian while volunteering at Windmill Hill City Farm each day. Nicole wanted to come to Bristol as her mother took part in an exchange with Bristol many years ago and has maintained contact ever since. Thanks to all those supporting Nicole including Lizzie at the farm and to Catherine, Lynne and Frank for accommodation. Nicole plans to study law for five years at Hannover University in the autumn and is already...

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On Thursday the 21st July 2016 the Lord Mayor of Bristol unveiled a cabinet in the Central Library to commemorate the twinnings that Bristol has with cities across the world. The cabinet is set to remain in the library next to the Twin Cities Reference Section and will be changed every three months. It contains objects that were gifted by our twinned towns to represent the culture of their city, such as a sculpture from Hannover. Many people who have played key roles within these partnerships were present, and it was great to hear from them about how these links between cities have benefited Bristol....

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