This year marks the 60th anniversary of the twinning between York and Münster, Germany.

Since 1957 there have been hundreds of exchange visits between the two cities, including civic party visits, school exchanges, choirs, rotary clubs, sports teams and artists. The Lord Mayor’s recent visit to Münster and a new community memory project marks the start of the celebrations.

The Foreign Office approached City of York Council in 1957 to propose the twinning with Münster as part of a process to help re-build relationships between the two countries after World War II.

The 50th anniversary of the twinning was celebrated in 2007 when the Oberbürgermeister (similar to a Lord Mayor position in the UK) and the then Lord Mayor signed a symbolic agreement to recognise the twinning and to commit to the relationship in future.

The current Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress visited Münster in December 2016 where they met their civic counterparts and visited the Christmas markets, to see how they approach and deliver the festive experiences. (more…)