News

** An intrepid band of 20 Bristol Hannover members braved the high winds on Sunday, December 8, to once again celebrate Christmas with a German flavour at Bristol's Jaegerbarn. Our honoured guests were The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of Bristol, Councillor Andrew Varney (above), and his consort Robbie Vogelaar. We were also delighted to be joined by Jona from Hannover, who has recently started as an intern in Bristol City Council, as well as new member Kerstin (Kiki) Eikenberry and her husband John. The festivities got under way with a glass of warming gluehwein and all enjoyed...

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** Alderman Michael Withers, former vice-president of Bristol-Hannover Council, passed away recently at the age of 93. Michael was born in Bath and went to school there, became a member of the Young Conservatives, was given the Freedom of the City of Bath, and later became a Conservative city councillor in Bristol. He always supported the arts in Bristol, became Chair of the Arts and Leisure Committee and was a member of Bristol Savages and Rotary. He was also always concerned to work to ensure good relations between Britain and Germany, becoming an early member of Bristol-Hannover Council,...

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** My connection with Hannover began in 1954 with the start of frequent visits to my grandmother, who lived there with her brother, my great uncle, Dr Horst Berkowitz. He was a Jewish lawyer who had survived the Nazi period and later became an important figure in the town after selling his coin collection, one of the largest ever amassed in Europe, to the city at a much-reduced price in 1975. For this he was awarded the Freedom of Hannover. I corresponded with Ann Kennard and she showed interest in this family connection and very kindly invited me to participate in the Bristol-Hannover Council...

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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. Once again this year the German Saturday school celebrated the occasion with a lantern parade in Redland Park and play in the church which children and parents enjoyed with mulled...

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** 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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