Knaresborough town twinning visit to Bebra

The party included the Mayor of Knaresborough, Cllr. Margy Longhurst and her Consort, Dr Richard Hassall and 5 Committee members, who travelled by plane and train and a further 7 people who travelled in 2 cars via the Hull/Rotterdam crossing. Four members of the group were visiting Bebra for the first time.

The essence of a Twinning visit is that you stay with a host family (who may then, depending on circumstances, stay with you on the return visit). The hospitality from host families and the Town Council in Bebra was second to none.

The programme began on Friday morning, when we had an excellent introduction to the Town Hall and an opportunity to see a panoramic view of Bebra and the surrounding area when we climbed the Church tower.

On Saturday there was an official reception at which the Mayor of Knaresborough presented a mosaic designed by local artist, Douglas Thompson. The mosaic depicts the viaduct over the River Nidd and the iconic railway crossing from East to West in Bebra. It was created by 70 members of the Knaresborough community during FEVA 24. The English teacher at Bebra’s Secondary School, Tobias Herbst, was presented with an award from Knaresborough Town Twinning Committee in recognition of his work in organising student exchanges with King James’ School in Knaresborough.

The reception was followed by a brilliant guided tour of Bebra’s railway museum which reflects post War German history. Bebra is situated approximately 18 miles from where the border between West and East Germany used to be and Bebra was the departure point for trains travelling to the East. The museum has a scale model of the West and East sides of the station and an explanation as to how trains moved from one side to the other through extensive security checks in the East. Video footage showed how families had been divided when the border was erected and politicians had visited Bebra to ease tensions. A wall covered in suitcases was a moving testimonial to the many families who were forced to move before and after the 2nd World War.

Sunday began with a Harvest festival in Bebra’s Church of the Resurrection where the Vicar, Pfarrer Christof Brunhorn, made us all very welcome.

At 1pm we met up in costume for the Kirmes parade. The theme this year was Outer Space. We were led by a UFO on a tractor and all wore various extra-galactical headgear!! It was a lot of fun and at the end we worked our way through the fairground to the beer tent, where the Mayor of Bebra, Herr Stefan Knoche, treated us to the local brew and we listened to music from local brass bands.

On Monday, after a drink in the beer tent, our families showed us other places of interest such as the beautiful town of Rotenburg, the Cathedral in Fulda, Bad Hersfeld, or the Bach museum in Eisenach. We finished with a farewell supper and a firework display to mark the end of the festivities.

As one of the 4 people who had never experienced Town Twinning with Bebra, Alison Sykes, Secretary of Knaresborough Town Twinning Committee said, "I can honestly say it was an experience I will never forget. The hospitality, the friendship and the laughter were just amazing and the area with its river and hills is really beautiful – just like Knaresborough"!

We are all very grateful to Nortrud Hoffmeister and the team in Bebra who organised such a great programme for us and to the host families whose generosity and hospitality made it all possible.

We look forward to welcoming the Bebrans back to Knaresborough for the Bed Race in June.

More information can be found on our Facebook page:

Knaresborough Bebra Town Twinning (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057483968063) or via our email: [email protected]