HELLO AND A WARM WELCOME
Thank you for your interest in our Town Twinning Association’s partnerships with the British communities of Runnymede and Luton.
The aim of the association is to build a closer relationship between these towns, to facilitate encounters between the residents and to promote the exchange between the cultures.
our goals
Mutual visits
Cultural events
Joint projects
to establish personal contacts between the citizens of both towns (e.g. trips for citizens, residents and younger people)
Joint projects
Cultural events
Joint projects
to share similar interests in areas such as music or sport
Cultural events
Cultural events
Cultural events
to impart knowledge about the other culture and arouse interest in other ways of life.
THE HISTORY
1956 - Partnership with Luton
The towns of Bergisch Gladbach and Luton signed a twinning agreement on July 14, 1956, and many youth group trips and reciprocal school exchanges followed. The picture on the right shows an exchange trip of Bergisch Gladbach pupils to Luton in 1961 with their English teacher Karl Schmidt.
1965 - Partnership between Bensberg and Egham (Runnymede)
Exactly 20 years after the end of the war, on May 8, 1965, Bensberg and Egham (Runnymede) signed a twinning agreement. After the merger of Bensberg and Bergisch Gladbach, the town twinning was transferred to Bergisch Gladbach in 1975. Since then, there have been numerous exchanges, visits, and joint projects in the fields of music, carnival, scouts, and sport.
2021 - Foundation of the "Partnership Association Luton and Runnymede - Bergisch Gladbach e.V."
After a long break, there had been a working group to promote encounters between the twin towns since 2014. However, it was not until 2018 that Norbert Brochhagen and Angela Behrend revived relations between the twin towns and initiated the founding of the "Partnerschaftsverein Luton und Runnymede - Bergisch Gladbach e.V." on 8. 11. 2021. Since then, numerous visits and lively exchanges between the twin towns have been taking place again.