Germany and the town twinning movement

Contemporary Review, Jan, 2003 by Martina Weyreter

Germany is now a nation facing many internal changes and problems. Above all, it is turning into a multicultural society where immigrants - mainly from Turkey, the Balkan states and the Middle East, a high percentage of them Muslims - have made their new home. Perhaps new twinning arrangements will reflect these changes. With Turkey and the Balkans already popular holiday destinations for Germans and with immigrants maintaining links to their countries of origin, nothing should really stand in the way. In the light of today's political climate and the events of 11 September 2001, threatening to split the world in two yet again, there could not be a more urgent and important task than that of establishing or re-establishing some form of dialogue. As in 1947, it could be the work of individuals.

Martina Weyreter is a teacher of both English and Gennan as a foreign language, working with multicultural classes in Germany. She first conducted a case study of French-German town twinning in 1988, as part of her language degree.