News

** A group of BHIC members travelled up to London on March 25 to see the Royal Academy exhibition of four modernist painters - Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz, Gabriele Münter and Marianne Werefkin. The four were women artists, mainly German or living in Germany in the first half of the 20th century. We were fortunate to have a pre-briefing from Colin Evans before the event which helped us all to place modernism in its historical context. The paintings were all interesting and worth seeing. Gabriele Münter, Portrait of Anna Roslund, 1917 Inevitably some artists made more...

Read More...

** An enthusiastic group of members and friends met to celebrate Rosenmontag, final celebrations before the privations of Lent, in the old style on February 20 at the Black Swan in Westbury-on-Trym. Wearing funny hats, and in one case a wig, listening to and joining in singing Karnevalsmusik, we all had a very enjoyable time (see pictures). The plus this year was being able to watch the Karneval processions in both Köln and Düsseldorf on satellite TV, which made it all much more real and colourful, and we are grateful to the pub staff for setting it up for us. ###################  

Read More...

** England may have been knocked out in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup in December but BHC committee member Jonathan Keir Radnedge came home from Qatar as a winner. He was among a number of veteran sports journalists presented with a replica of the World Cup trophy (picture above)  in acknowledgement of the 15 finals tournaments at which he has reported – ever since England’s triumph over West Germany in 1966. The ceremony in Doha was organised by world football federation FIFA and the international sports press association (AIPS) and the presentations were undertaken by the 2002...

Read More...

** Early December saw about 20 members and friends enjoy our traditional Christmas Market meal of Wurst, Sauerkraut and ‘Pommes’ (instead of Kartoffelsalat this time) washed down with a couple of beakers of lovely Glühwein. We were delighted this year to welcome the Lord Lieutenant, Peaches Golding, who said she had greatly enjoyed sharing the whole anniversary year with us. A great way to start off the Christmas season. #######    

Read More...

** 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...

Read More...

** We have sadly noted a number of deaths among our members and friends in the last few months, who will have been known to many of our members: David Perkins, our stalwart supporter of the rugby exchange with Hannover's Odin Club over many years, died in September 2022. Several of us went to his funeral, which was attended by hundreds of his friends, who sang Guide us oh thy Great Redeemer with great gusto. Richard Wong, long-time leader of the Beaufort Badminton Club exchange with Hannover, died in November 2022.  We attended his memorial service, where a tribute from the Hannover badminton...

Read More...

** Our return visit to Hannover did not start off auspiciously, with half of our group of 12, on arriving at Heathrow, finding their direct flight to Hannover had been cancelled. Many frustrating hours later, they were able to fly to Düsseldorf and thence by train to Hannover, albeit everyone was exhausted! But they did not miss the first event of the exciting programme which our friends in Hannover had set up for us. On Friday morning, we all gathered in the Palais Garten behind the Wilhelm Busch Museum in Herrenhausen to witness the planting of a Peace Tree, a ginkgo sapling which had been...

Read More...

** To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the twinning relationship between Hannover and Bristol, a Hannover boys football club travelled to Bristol from August 18 to 21 to play Ashton FC's boys and girls teams at Greville Smyth Park, near Ashton Gate Stadium. The German boys football club is part of the Polizei-Sportverein Hannover, which was originally founded by police officers in 1920. The organisers of the trip were pleased to see that both clubs won and lost matches against each other but celebrated as one afterwards. On Friday August 19, the Lord Mayor of Bristol Councillor Paula...

Read More...

** The visit to which we had all been looking forward for so long, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Bristol's partnership with Hannover, started a little earlier, with a ‘prequel’. This was the great idea of Hannover landscape gardener Joerma Biernath, to bring a barrel of his Hannover Gin – the contents to be sold for charity - all the way from Hannover, along with a tree to be planted in the Bristol University Botanic Garden, carried in a Second World War wooden German Navy training boat. The ‘Spirit of Niedersachsen’ braved the weather of North Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium...

Read More...

** Helen Wilson and Luke Antysz (RISE Youth Dance directors) travelled to Hannover between April 12-15 to meet German partners at the Community Centre Linden, youth projects City of Hannover, and Twinning Cities/Hannover, after numerous online meetings initiated by Alix Hughes. The purpose of this research trip was for the partners to meet and arrange another visit in August. In August RISE Directors will take a group of young dancers to Hannover, to collaborate with young dancers there and create a performance as part of the 75th twinning anniversary celebrations. A key component of the research...

Read More...