France/31 residents of Plomelin return from a trip to Germany to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the sister city committee
Thirty-one residents of Plomelin returned a few days ago from their trip to Germany. They were welcomed by the residents of Betziesdorf, a neighborhood of Kirchhain in Germany, to mark the 60th anniversary of the town’s twinning with the village in Finistère.
To mark this 60th anniversary, a commemorative plaque created by the Charles-Robert workshop in Pluguffan was presented to the German town in the presence of numerous officials, including the mayor of Kirchhain, a member of the Bundestag, and a representative of the Landtag. During their stay, the volunteers from Plomelin attended several festivities, notably the German village festival, which was moved up for the occasion.
It all began in a school classroom
On January 22, 1963, Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle signed the Élysée Treaty, laying the foundations for Franco-German friendship and fostering the creation of numerous twinning committees, including the one between Plomelin and Betziesdorf, established as early as 1966. In 1971, following the German municipal reform, it became Plomelin-Kirchhain/Betziesdorf.
The mayor of Plomelin at the time, Robert Omnes, wanted a twinning with a German town so that “young people could get to know one another and no longer want to kill each other.” His friend Jean-Michel Le Viol, president of the Breton cultural association Eostiged ar Stangala, acted as the go-between. When the cultural group was scheduled to perform in Marburg, he invited Robert Omnes to accompany him and introduced him to a teacher from Betziesdorf who might be interested in such a partnership.
The twinning was thus born on a bench at a German school, where Robert Omnes, Karl Kesper (the school’s principal), and Alfred Pletsch (a French-speaking teacher) forged lasting ties between the two villages. Dominique Le Roux, president of the twinning committee, notes that these ties have gone beyond friendship, as three Franco-German marriages have since taken place. And for 60 years, the friendship has never faltered.
Source: letelegramme
