Bracknell Twinning Association

27/06/2016
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Schloss Morsbroich – Morsbroich Palace, Leverkusen

Bracknell Twinning Association works with the Freundeskreis in Leverkusen to arrange regular visits to their partner towns and in particular to facilitate exchanges between local interest groups, schools and sports clubs and for work experience.

Bracknell originally twinned in 1973 with Opladen in Germany, a town of a similar size to itself.  During a local government re-organisation the Opladen local authority was absorbed by Leverkusen, a town of about 160,000 people and the home of the famous Bayer Chemical Works. Leverkusen continued the partnership and is also twinned with several other towns across the world. Leverkusen is just north of Cologne and has a good train service to this city. You can read more about Leverkusen in the “Welcome to Leverkusen” guide. (Link below)

Bracknell Twinning Association works with the Freundeskreis in Leverkusen to arrange regular visits to their partner towns and in particular to facilitate exchanges between local interest groups, schools and sports clubs and for work experience. In recent years the bond of friendship between citizens of the twin towns has been re-kindled with an increasing number of exchanges and joint activities.

Regular updates about exchanges and joint activities are posted on the Council’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Bracknelltowncouncil

The Bracknell Twinning Association is run by a committee elected each year at its Annual General Meeting. All its meetings are held in the Bracknell Town Council Chamber, usually on Monday evenings at about monthly intervals. Any local resident interested in twinning is welcome to make contact and attend the meetings. Various sports and cultural exchanges take place on a regular basis and the committee is always pleased to facilitate other exchanges for clubs or individuals.

The Association would be pleased to hear from anyone who may be able to offer accommodation to visitors from Leverkusen.
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Bracknell Twinning Members Free to Visit Twin Town Leverkusen Again!

11/09/2022

August 2022

Members of Bracknell Twinning, accompanied by Bracknell Town Mayor, Dai Roberts, have just returned from a long, action-packed weekend (12-15 August 2022) with German hosts and friends in Twin Town Leverkusen, Germany, after four years’ ‘No Go’ – primarily due to Covid-19 restrictions in both countries.

In June 2019, members of ‘Freundeskreis Bracknell-Leverkusen’ visited Bracknell, staying with local hosts, for a very exciting programme of social gatherings and sight-seeing – including the Houses of Parliament, a boat trip on the River Thames, Blenheim Palace and Hampton Court.

Unfortunately, a return visit to Leverkusen by Bracknell Twinning in June 2020, which was to include a stay in the Mosel area and a trip on the River Mosel, had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.

Thanks to Bracknell Twinning Chair, Mary Temperton, and her counterpart in Leverkusen, this year’s return visit to Leverkusen was able to take place and included a visit to the chemical Bayer company Colonies Museum in Leverkusen town centre; a visit to the Waldfrieden Sculpture Park set in Wuppertal woodland and opened in 2008 by British sculptor, Tony Cragg; a ride on the unique ‘hanging’ monorail along the River Wupper; and an evening at the Annual Leverkusen Beer Festival on the banks of the River Wupper to sample local, national and international beers and culinary dishes, including the traditional German Bratwurst!

An inter-town friendship and partnership visit would not be complete without a more formal Reception at the Leverkusen City Hall, attended by both Bracknell Town Mayor and Leverkusen Lord Mayor, where guests from Bracknell were warmly welcomed. Lord Mayor Uwe Richrath acknowledged that next year Bracknell and Leverkusen will be celebrating 50 years of twinning, and he vowed to attend the Leverkusen return visit to Bracknell then.

‘It was wonderful and reassuring to see ‘old friends’ again and make new friends in Leverkusen, a relatively new town, with which Bracknell shares much in common. Even the Lord Mayor of Leverkusen, Uwe Richrath, seems like an ‘old friend’, and it was a pleasure and honour to meet him again after four years’ absence!’ (Maggie Stock, member of the Bracknell Twinning Committee).

Freundeskreis Bracknell Leverkusen Feature

30/06/2022

Follow the Bracknell-Leverkusen Twinning website : LATEST

 

From Leverkusen’s Website

Latest from Leverkusen – Link to Leverkusen site in German

Table Talk and Committee Meeting with Old Friends from England

 

At the most recent Table Talk, a round of talks in English that takes place on the 2nd Monday of every month, a dear visitor from England was welcomed. Chris and Rosemary Davison made a detour on their way to see their son in order to see friends from Leverkusen again, to answer questions about current topics in England at the discussion group and to take part in the board meeting later in the evening.

 

 

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Tel: 01344 426191 Email: mary.temperton@bracknelltowncouncil.gov.uk