30 years of town twinning with Düsseldorf

Today, Mayor Miko Runkel and former Lord Mayor Dr Eberhard Langer are travelling to Düsseldorf for the town twinning celebrations. Düsseldorf is celebrating its 30-year town twinning with the cities of Haifa, Reading and Chemnitz over three days.

Official delegations from the three twin towns will take part in the celebrations.

Among other things, there will be a jazz concert with musicians from all four cities. A friendly match with the CFC youth team against Düsseldorf is also planned.

The highlight of the 2018 triple twinning anniversary year will be a colourful programme of festivities from Friday, 29 June to Sunday, 1 July:

Reception at Benrath Castle

On Friday, 29 June, there will be an official reception for the delegations from the twin towns at Benrath Castle. As part of the Festival of Lights, they will celebrate with invited guests from various areas of Düsseldorf city society who are actively involved in the town twinning programme.

The delegations from Haifa, Reading and Chemnitz will also sign the Golden Book of the state capital Düsseldorf at the reception. Michelle Müntefering, Minister of State for International Cultural Policy at the Federal Foreign Office, will be attending the reception as a special guest and will give a speech on the importance of city partnerships for foreign policy.

"To Düsseldorf with Love"

On Saturday, 30 June, the international postcard exhibition "To Düsseldorf with Love" will open at Café Europa. People around the world were invited via social networks to send postcards to Düsseldorf with wishes for the city twinning anniversary and their own thoughts on the topic of city twinning. Düsseldorf City Hall has already received 450 postcards from over 40 countries - 100 of which will be answered personally by City Hall. The greetings from all over the world and other insights into the partnerships will be on display in the exhibition until Friday, 20 July.

International street art

During a street art project in Düsseldorf, urban artists from all four anniversary cities have been working together since Monday 25 June to create a mural. In addition to Kj263 from Düsseldorf, Kev Munday from Reading, Eldar Gutman Imanov from Haifa and Doppeldenk from Chemnitz are also taking part.

On Saturday, 30 June at 1 pm, the mural will be completed, presented and inaugurated with a street party under the motto "30 Years Sister Cities".

Jazz concert

On Saturday evening, 30 June, 8 pm, musicians from all four cities invite you to the jazz concert "Sister Cities Swing" in the Jazz-Schmiede. The Düsseldorf jazz ensemble JE:D meets musicians from Chemnitz, Haifa and Reading. The Chemnitz part will be played by saxophonist, vocalist and composer Fabia Mantwill, who is regarded by many of her recognised colleagues as an up-and-coming musician on the German and international jazz scene.

www.jazz-schmiede.de/veranstaltungen/2018/06/sister-cities-swing/

Youth football tournament: Chemnitz - Düsseldorf

On Sunday, 1 July at 12 noon, a youth football tournament between Chemnitz and Düsseldorf will start as part of the "Kids in Action" sports information fair in the Arena Sports Park.

Background to the town twinning between Chemnitz and Düsseldorf:

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Düsseldorf supported the establishment of local self-government in Chemnitz, which was still called Karl-Marx-Stadt at the time. The award of honorary citizenship to the former Lord Mayor of Düsseldorf, Klaus Bungert, was an expression of the City of Chemnitz's gratitude for the support provided by the City of Düsseldorf. To this day, the city administrations remain in contact on specialised issues. Many clubs and associations maintain good and regular relations. The Düsseldorf boxing team has been competing at the Chemnitz International Boxing Tournament for many years. Pupils from Görres Gymnasium regularly take part in the Chemnitz School Theatre Week.