“EUROPAFEST 2014”

 

In 1988, North Hykeham became twinned with the Black Forest town of Denzlingen, situated in South-West Germany between the Cathedral City of Freiburg and Newark's twin town of Emmendingen. The original twinning charter was signed in successive years in both towns and so this year marks the culmination of our silver jubilee celebrations which began with a visit to North Hykeham in 2013 by a party from Denzlingen including their Burgermeister, Markus Hollemann.

 

At the beginning of July, members of the North Hykeham Town Twinning Association, accompanied by Deputy Mayor, Cllr. Keith Sampson, and his wife, Cllr. Suzanne Sampson, travelled to Germany to commemmorate not only our own twinning but the 40^th anniversary of Denzlingen's twinning with the French Mediterranean town of St. Cyr Sur Mer, and 20 years of twinning with the Italian hilltop town of Citta Dell' Pieve. Also present in Denzlingen was a delegation from Denzlingen's newest twinned community, that of Konstancin-Jeziorna which is situated just outside of the Polish capital, Warsaw. Although North Hykeham is only formally twinned with Denzlingen, we maintain good relations with the other four communities and North Hykeham Twinning Association members have paid visits to all of them and enjoyed their hospitality.

 

For the North Hykeham delegation, our visit began on Friday July 4^th with a tour of the Black Forest and visit to the Rothaus Brewery which at over 1000m above sea level is the highest in Germany. Although originally based a few Kilometers away in the small town of St. Blasien and founded by the Prince-Bishop of the monastery there in the 18thC, the Brewery is now operated as a Social Enterprise by the Provincial Government and provides employment in a comparitively isolated area, as well as providing a market for local farmers.

 

It has long been a tourist attraction in its own right with visitors arriving by horse-drawn wagon back in the early 1900's. Following an interesting tour,(and naturally a sampling of the brewery's products!), we had an enjoyable lunch before continuing to St. Blasien where we were given a tour of its compact cathedral, unusual for it's domed roof and almost pure white internal décor.

 

Friday evening saw the arrival of the final visitors from the other twin towns and a group buffet was held for all with conversations being carried out in several languages – often all in the same sentence! On the following morning, a symposium was held in the “ROCCA” centre, a former tobacco factory which now houses Denzlingen's library, a cafe and a meeting room where representatives from all of the twinned towns discussed the recent European and also local elections. Another topic discussed was water supply. In Denzlingen, this can be undertaken by the town council and Burgermeister Hollemann is currently discussing this in conjunction with the heads of other adjacent town councils. After lunch, some visitors were taken on a brief visit to the nearby town of Waldkirch to see the fairground organ museum there. Visitors to various Steam Engine Rallies over the years will have seen the name of the town on many fairground organs, and the museum has many fine examples. 5pm saw the official opening of the “Europafest” which was held in the grounds of Denzlingen's “Kultur & Burgerhaus”, a large community centre with concert hall, exhibition space and restaurant. The opening by the Burgermeister and the civic representatives of the other towns present was marked by the ceremonial tapping of a barrel of beer. Local bands and choirs provided entertainment throughout the evening whilst various clubs and societies sold food and drink from their stands in aid of their funds. At 10pm, despite fading light, the high point of the evening arrived with a display of Italian renaissance sword fighting, drumming and fire-juggling by costumed re-enactors from Citta Dell' Pieve. Dancing then continued outdoors until 2am.

 

On Sunday morning, an ecumenical church service was held in the Kultur & Burgerhaus followed by speeches and an exchange of gifts involving the civic representatives of all of the towns. In the afternoon, amongst the attractions on offer was a giant inflatable table football game, with real people taking the place of the usual rotating figures found on the normal pub game. Several people from the other countries had to be given “honorary temporary British citizenship” in order to make up a sufficiently large enough North Hykeham team, since the French alone had over 120!! Nevertheless, it was great fun. Another popular event was a “Little Chef” competition for Denzlingen's younger residents aged 11 and under. They were asked to prepare a dish from any EU country and were all dressed in chef's toques and aprons bearing the coats-of-arms of all the towns involved in the “Europafest”. The standard of the entries was very high and was taken VERY seriously by the children involved. Judging was by the chefs of two local restaurants and one said that he would be happy to send out the winning entry from his kitchen to paying customers.

 

Later in the day, there was an opportunity for the North Hykeham visitors to exchange gifts with their fellow twinners with a range of Lincolnshire produce including “Plum Bread”, honey and jams being handed over and various wines, foodstuffs and “Coffee Table” illustrated books and pictures being received in return. At this session, we were also entertained by a large choir from St. Cyr who sang a range of pieces. Sadly, a heavy thunderstorm curtailed the event with most of the outside stalls having to close early but the event was nontheless a success. On Monday, we were taken into the Rhine Valley where we were given a guided tour of Geldermann's sparkling wine production facility. Founded in the 19thC as a branch of a French production company from the Champagne region, it is now autonomous but uses the same traditional techniques as the French to make its products. Natural fermentation provides the bubbles rather than artificial carbonation as with some cheaper wines. Needless to say, as with the earlier brewery visit, the samples were greatly enjoyed. Following this, we travelled to the riverside town of Breisach where we embarked on a short Rhine cruise combined with lunch.

 

When the boat travelled down the centre of the river, it was pointed out that one side of the boat was in Germany and the other in France! At the end of the day, we returned to Denzlingen for our final evening before travelling back to North Hykehan the following day.

 

Next year, we look forward to entertaining a party of our German friends in North Hykeham and of course, there are visits by individuals taking place throughout the year between families that have been staying with each other for many years.

 

If you would like to know more about the North Hykeham Town Twinning Association, about Denzlingen or about Denzlingen's other twin towns, just contact the Chairman, John Lingard, on Lincoln 882014 or email john.lingard@ntlworld.com.