News Archive
12/04/21Bocksgasse - Boulevard of twin cities - brightly coloured into the future
May 9th 1945 was a very important date for Europe and the world and marked the ending of the devastating second world war. May 9th 1950 witnessed the birth of the European Coal and Steel Community.
To mark these two days, from 8th May to 11th September the city partnership project "Boulevard of twin cities - brightly coloured into the future" takes place in Schwäbisch Gmünd.
Consisting of three project parts the five partner cities of Schwäbisch Gmünd, Antibes Juan-les-Pins (France), Barnsley (Great Britain), Bethlehem (USA), Faenza (Italy) and Székesfehérvár (Hungary) will be involved, implemented by the city administration in conjunction with photographer and artist Ingrid Hertfelder and Gmünder Städteparterschaftsverein (Gmünd’s town partnership Association).
Strips of fabric in the colours of the Gmünd partner cities with brief information about the partner towns were hung in Bocksgasse in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Mayor Richard Arnold and district Administrator Dr. Joachim Bläse were both enthusiastic about the project idea. “The Boulevard of Twin Cities is a young, fresh idea that takes the city population with it and contributes to international understanding. “This is exactly what Europe and the world needs now“ said Oberbürgemeister Richard Arnold.
“A united Europe also requires the commitment of the citizens, this project has the chance to inspire young and older people alike for Europe.” added Dr. Joachim Bläse.
The walk-in art installation “Boulevard of twin cities - colourful into the future” was the idea of Ingrid Hertfelder and together with Daniel Cavli from the Prediger cultural centre in Gmünd, Franka Zanek and Inga Adam from the International, Integration and Europe department and the partner town association, an overall concept for the twinning exchange in 2021 was developed.
It began in April with the fabric panels in the colours of the Peace flag. The lengths of fabric symbolise the peace-building character of the city partnerships and the cosmopolitanism of the city of Schwäbisch Gmünd. Strips of fabric in the colours of the city of Schwäbisch Gmünd form the end of the boulevard.
In addition to all this, there is also the possibility for Gmünders to establish direct, personal contacts in the partner city of their choice with a postcard campaign. These postcards are displayed in the town hall, in the city library and in the Gmünder Adult Education Centre. Digital format postcards are also available.
The third part of the project is a special program on the subject of “Youth encounters in Europe”. Young representatives from each of the partner towns have been invited to comment on their exchange experiences and their own thoughts on Europe.
This has been recorded for transmission on the Gmünd town partnership association YouTube channel on May 30th.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyvrZixd2oZXhF9SHT2Qb6Q
