** Our biennial visit this year took place in September, and as luck would have it, our visit coincided with that of Bristol’s Ariel Rowing Club, who were visiting their partner rowers, Linden Ruderverein.
Thus we were all treated to a splendid first morning in brilliant sunshine in an unusual and beautiful place, namely the Berggarten, part of the wonderful Herrenhausen Gardens. We split into two groups, and were guided by the Gardens’ experts.
The Berggarten
We then proceeded to the grandiose Hodlersaal of Hannover’s Rathaus, where all of us were received by our good friend,...
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** The Culture and Education team at the German Embassy London organised one of a series of events to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
This particular event took place in fact on October 3, Unification Day, and our Chair, Ann Kennard, was invited to participate and to come in 80s/90s dress style – but it was not the usual Embassy event.
It was held at Aures, which describes itself as an immersive event space, and is situated in the Leake Street Arches underneath Waterloo Station.
The walls are covered in colourful street art and graffiti and the Embassy...
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** Der Tag der Deutschen Einheit (October 3, 1990) was the day when Germany became one country for the first time since 1945 but is also important as part of a wider sequence of events that ended the Cold War with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Our committee member, Kai von Pahlen, attended the Cardiff celebrations of the Day of German Unity with the First Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan MS, German Ambassador Miguel Berger and German honorary consul in Wales Marlies Hoecherl.
Kai was pleased to learn more about the Welsh-German twinning connections, including between Cardiff and Stuttgart, the Welsh...
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** The participation of Bristol’s twinnings at this year’s Harbour Festival was masterminded by our Council Twinnings Officer, Zoe Gibbons, and her idea of artistic activities in the family area on College Green proved to be a great success!
The twinnings tent was presented showing huge letters of BRISTOL, with each letter signifying one of the seven twinnings, with an associated animal. The letters were allocated in order of the establishment of the twinnings, so Hannover was the letter R and our animal was the horse, to show off the Hanoverian horse breed.
The project was aimed...
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** On an unusually sunny Sunday afternoon, a group of members - including some who remember - viewed a Bristol Film Festival showing of the film Blitz on Bristol with footage of the bombing on November 24, 1940.
The 1980 documentary was kindly provided by Bristol Archives. It featured archive footage and eyewitness interviews. This is a sobering account of one of the darker chapters of the city’s history, and how the people of Bristol lived through such troubled times.
Presenter Derek Jones of the BBC recounts the events of the Bristol Blitz between 1940-1, speaking with citizens...
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** At the suggestion of Lynda Evans we decided that the organisation needed a sports/social occasion to build on the success of our earlier skittles evenings.
Some 15 members - a mix of regulars and new members - gathered at the Post Office Tavern (the interior gives its history away!) on Westbury Hill for our inaugural darts evening on Wednesday 12th June. 2 equally matched teams battled it out for the honours.
Sadly, ending on a double proved beyond our capabilities, and the match threatened to stretch on into infinity.
However, we did witness some prodigious sporting feats...
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** Having sung together at the Marktkirche, Hannover in our anniversary year 2022, it was the turn of the Oratorienchor to come to Bristol.
After a few days of visiting Bristol sights, a first experience for many of the 40 German guests, the two choirs with 150 singers along with the Bristol Ensemble and wonderful soloists combined to give a great concert in our newly refurbished Bristol Beacon concert hall.
At the German choir’s request, the programme consisted entirely of English music, and all of the pieces had links with the south-west region of England.
The Vaughan Williams...
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** Our Chair accepted an invitation recently from the German embassy to the annual language teacher festival, this time held at the Goethe Institute in London. At this ceremony, normally a teacher is rewarded for his/her inspiring teaching of German.
The ceremony opened with a welcoming speech by the host, German Ambassador Miguel Berger, who had also invited the ambassadors of Austria and Switzerland, and an address by the Guest of Honour, the Rt Rev Dr Christopher Cocksworth, Dean of Windsor, who had served as Dean of Coventry Cathedral and visited its partner city Dresden.
What ensued...
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** The beautiful new twinning signpost has been inaugurated in front of City Hall, in the presence of the Lord Mayor Cllr Paul Goggin, Mayor Rees and Donna Speed, the leader of the Guild of Guardians, who funded the creation of the signpost.
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Speeches by the Lord Mayor, Donna Speed and Ann Kennard (BHC chair also representing BITA) emphasised the importance of Bristol's twinnings to the international profile of the city.
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About 70 representatives of the seven twinnings were present, along with the artist, Steve Joyce, the prime mover of the initiative and former twinnings officer, Alix...
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** November 11 is St Martin's Day in Germany. This day celebrates the Roman soldier turned saint who was such a good guy that he gave half his coat to a beggar during a snowstorm.
The most iconic tradition in Germany is a lantern procession, for which children make their own paper lanterns in school. After the sun sets, young and old come together to walk through town and sing songs carrying their colourful lanterns.
It was my great honour and pleasure once again to represent the holy Saint Martin at the lantern procession organised by the German Saturday School Bristol.
Martinstag...
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