News

A Medal of Honour has been presented to Bristol-Hannover Council by the British-German Association. It was accepted by the Chair, Ann Kennard, on behalf of BHC. The ceremony took place on 7th November at the Bristol-Anglo German Society dinner, celebrating 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The medal was presented by Stephen Watson, Chair of the British-German Association.   Mr Watson spoke very warmly of the contribution to British-German relations made by BHC in the 67 years since its inception in 1947. He explained the history and significance of the medal: The British-German Association's...

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The Lord Mayor, Alastair Watson, opened this year’s Christmas Market on Friday November 7th and members of BHC committee visited the stalls with him. The Market is bigger than ever and it is evident that it is becoming an essential and fun feature amongst the Bristol shoppers in the run-up to Christmas. The central installation is the so-called ‘Pyramide’ – all Christmas markets in Germany have them – it is a kind of windmill, with moving figures, depicting the Nativity scene. Around it is a series of pretty bars and tables, selling Wurst, Kartoffelsalat, Pretzels and, of course, Glühwein!...

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The PENvolution art installation, created by Kerstin Schulz, a Hannoverian artist, was opened by the Lord Mayor, Alastair Watson, on November 3rd in the Central Library, Bristol, with a reception organised by the hosts, Bristol-Hannover Council. It has already been greeted with great enthusiasm by the public and commented on in the local media. The aim of the installation is to show the development of communications over the years, from the pencil to the computer. The PencilMobileRoom, as it is called (see photo attached), contains a desk, chair, sculpture, telephone and lamp inside, all made of over...

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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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