Photo Feature: Freiburg Guildford’s Twin – Friends for 45 years

Published on: 18 Nov, 2024
Updated on: 18 Nov, 2024

By Barbara Ford

chair of the Guildford Twinning Association

September 2024 saw the 45th anniversary of the twinning of Guildford with Freiburg in Southwest Germany.

In September 1979 the two towns agreed “to establish a twinning of our communities as a token and promise of lasting friendship”, by undertaking “to maintain regular mutual liaison, to exchange our experiences and to encourage and support the coming together of our citizens in every sphere.”

How is that going? What have we been doing?

The Guildford Twinning Association has supported: numerous exchanges and visits back and forth: schools, university, sport, art, music, mayors. We’ve provided free (mostly) cultural education: lectures, seminars, films, concerts.

Starting during the pandemic we now have online contact: Zoom quizzes with mixed Freiburg/Guildford teams for Fastnacht (pre-Lenten Carnival) or Halloween. Plenty of members’ socials: lunches, dinners, celebrations and the members’ annual trip to Freiburg, with attendance at Freiburg’s Partner Cities Fair in alternate years.

Please note, the next members’ trip will be in 2025, probably in September – watch this space.

And then there’s our annual German mini Christmas market, when we sell German-themed gifts and promote Freiburg and the twinning. Note: the next one is on Sunday, December 1, 11am-3pm in the Guildhall – and the winners of this year’s Short Film Competition for Schools will be announced, and prizes awarded, at 12 o’clock.

The people of the lovely city of Freiburg are warm and welcoming, Guildford people now have many friends there and vice versa. The twinning seems to be going well!

And here is a collection of photos from the last decade or so, recording some of the GTA events…

Blau-Weiss play Guildford City Boys in Guildford 2013

Guildford musicians Briggs & Stark perform at Freiburg’s Partner Cities Fair 2024

Freiburg Youth Wind Band and South West Surrey Concert Band play together at George Abbot School in Guildford 2015

2019 – Four Freiburg artists with Guildford hosts, including, on the left, the current council leader Julia McShane.

Mayor Nikki Nelson-Smith with Bürgermeister (Mayor) Otto Neideck, opening the Christmas market in Freiburg 2015

Dr Ben Schofield of Kings College London (a former George Abbot School pupil) gave a sixth form seminar titled Unlock the world with languages, here with GTA Chair Barbara Ford, in 2019.

Mayor Dennis Booth with Guildford winners of GTA’s Short Film Competition for Schools 2022

GTA’s Guildford-Freiburg quizzes via Zoom connected us during lockdown and have continued: this one was at Hallowe’en 2023.

Members of GTA and Freiburg’s Anglo German Club on a walk beside Schluchsee in the Black Forest 2019

Freiburg’s Partner Cities Fair: in Jubilee year 2022, the Guildford stall is proudly patriotic, while also promoting Hog’s Back Brewery beer and Silent Pool gin, which always go down well at the Fair