50 years of twinning with Osnabrück

UNIQUE 50:50 CELEBRATIONS WILL UNITE BOTH COMMUNITIES

- By ZENA HAWLEY

IT is almost 50 years ago since the mayors of Derby and Osnabrück met to sign a twinning agreement that would see links between local people of both places established and scores of people take part in events shared by both places.

February 17 will see the start of more than year of events celebrating both the 50th anniversary of the Anglo-German twinning agreement and also in 2027, the 50th anniversary of Derby gaining city status. Named 50:50, it is designed to get as many people as possible involved in a large number of events.

The twinning agreement was signed on February 17, 1976 in the Hall of Peace in Osnabrück, in northwest Germany.

The origin of twinning links for British town goes back to the end of the Second World War and in the years that followed matching them up was organised by the Local Government International Bureau, which worked as a kind of dating agency - and Derby was matched with Osnabrück.

Since then, it has been local people and councillors who have maintained links between the two cities. The most prominent sign of this has been the envoy scheme, whereby a resident from Derby and Osnabrück each live in their twin city for a year.

The exchange of envoys between two cities is very unusual. No other city in Germany participates in this exchange of envoys, and in Britain, only one other town, Wigan, receives and sends an envoy.