Town twinning, as the term suggests, is the pairing of two municipalities with the aim of long-term economic and cultural exchange. The mayor of the municipality signs the partnership agreement, the respective municipal councils pass the resolution and the seal is set on the partnership.
This European peace project, facilitating a life of freedom, peace, democracy and prosperity, first came about in response to the harrowing events of our past. Town twinning plays a significant role in making the European Union a tangible, everyday experience for its citizens, providing a foundation for a peaceful co-existence and a Europe which is in touch with its people.
Europe is currently home to approximately 20,000 town-twinning projects. The concept of understanding between nations existed decades before the European funding programmes were introduced and it continues to this day, contributing massively to the EU’s growth into a community of shared values.
Town twinning thrives on the involvement of people and their personal lobbying in associations, schools and nurseries and administrations to promote mutual understanding. Their valuable work strengthens the bonds between the citizens of EU member states.
Cottbus maintains a total of nine partnerships in Europe. Our closest relationship is with the Polish city of Zielona Góra, which is situated approximately 100 kilometres away. Our first partnership was entered into with Montreuil, a working-class suburb to the east of Paris, on 13 October 1959.
A foreign policy stigma arose as a result of the Hallstein Doctrine, which meant that states in the West did not recognise the GDR until the 1970s. Attempts were made to counteract this by approving town partnerships with municipalities in France and Italy in the late 1950s.
It was the aim of the first Cottbus/Chóśebuz partnership with the French commune of Montreuil (a suburb of Paris) to facilitate an exchange between delegations consisting of councillors and lawmakers, similar businesses, the building industry, national education and health and social services (1957 joint declaration of intent).
The partnership between Montreuil and Grosseto, Italy, gave rise to a German-Italian partnership with the city of Cottbus/Chóśebuz. This saw athletes from Montreuil and Grosseto taking part in international sports meetings in Cottbus/Chóśebuz in the early 1970s.
Town twinning projects with countries in the East followed in subsequent years. An exchange with Lipetsk, Russia, took place on a regional level to begin with. The official friendship agreement was signed in 1992. Representative delegations took part in exchanges involving social highlights with Targovischte, Bulgaria and Košice, Slovakia.
Partnerships with African towns failed due to the geographical distance; a twinning project with Mopti, Mali, failed to take off.
A partnership with the German city of Saarbrücken came about in 1987. This has primarily been reinforced in the areas of culture and sport. Our mayor Holger Koch entered his name into the city of Saarbrücken’s Golden Book on the 30th anniversary of this twinning project.
Our twin town of Gelsenkirchen supported Cottbus/Chóśebuz in the construction of the city’s municipal administration in the early 1990s, with the exchange subsequently taking place on a sporting level.
Our newest partnership, with Nuneaton & Bedworth, was a result of the work of teachers from both municipalities. This relationship has been especially influenced by a lively school exchange.
Cooperation between the Cottbus regional council and the marshall’s office of Zielona Góra and their “capitals” of Cottbus and Zielona Góra at that time established the German-Polish partnership. The partnership agreement was signed by the municipal leaders of both cities in 1975, and the twinning project work has concentrated on project-related cooperation since the 1990s. Geographical proximity to Zielona Góra and the opportunity of receiving financial support within the “Spree-Neiße-Bober/Sprewa-Nysa-Bóbr” Euroregion thanks to the Small Project Funds from the INTERREG VA Programme ( www.euroregion-snb.de ), along with 45 years of experience, make the ties of our friendship especially strong. Every year, an annual agreement is signed by municipal leaders on the occasion of Zielona Góra’s town festival (wine festival).
The continuation of all partnerships concluded before 1990 was legitimised in the early 1990s in a resolution passed by the Cottbus/Chóśebuz city council assembly.
Am 8. Januar 2020 trat das Cottbuser Kindermusical beim Neujahrsempfang der Stadt Cottbus/Chóśebuz auf. Ihr extra für diesen Anlass komponiertes Lied "Cottbus hebt ab" nahm die Gäste zu einem Rundflug durch alle unsere Partnerstädte mit.
“Children’s Musical performance at the New Year reception The Cottbus Children’s Musical performance took place at the city of Cottbus/Chóśebuz New Year reception on 8 January 2020. The song “Cottbus hebt ab” (in English “Cottbus Takes Flight”), composed especially for this occasion, took audience members on a round trip through all of our partner towns.
Find out more about our partner towns
