Stadt Flensburg,
Deutschland
The search for a twin town began in 1959 with schools in
Carlisle looking for a specific link with a foreign city. The
British Council was approached and a German town similar in size
and type was sought. Flensburg in Schleswig-Holstein, North Germany
was suggested.
Discussions to establish a twinning arrangement ensued through
1960. Of particular importance was the impetus to arrange an
exchange of youth groups.
During the visit of a Civic Delegation to Flensburg in June 1961
the official partnership between Carlisle and Flensburg began. This
event was commemorated by the presentation of this beautiful wooden
plaque to the Mayor of Carlisle during a celebratory siting of
Flensburg’s City Council on 29 June 1961.
The first Carlisle and Flensburg Youth Exchange took place
in July 1961 and exchanges of young people continue to form a
strong thread of the partnership through forty years of
friendship.
Flensburg
Like Carlisle Flensburg is a northern border town, which through
history has changed national allegiance with the consequence that
two distinct communities, German and Danish, are evident today.
Flensburg has a geographical location similar to Carlisle in
that the city is situated near the sea, on a 20 mile long Fjord
that flows into the Baltic. It has an agricultural hinterland and
is the centre of a thriving tourist industry. Even the Civic
Centres are similar!
Flensburg was granted a city charter in 1284 by Duke Waldemar
IV. Flensburg is an old port and trading city with shipbuilding and
shipping dating back to the Middle Ages.
In the16th. Century Flensburg was a rich and important sea
trading city whose later economic development to the 19th Century
was strongly influenced by Denmark. Rum importation from the West
Indies began in the middle 18th Century and is today celebrated in
the city’s "Rum Museum" opened in 1993.
The 19th Century saw heated disputes including a German-Danish
War in 1864 as to whether Flensburg should be in Schleswig-Holstein
or remain in the Danish Commonwealth. After a referendum in 1920
Flensburg became a German border town and at the end of WWII became
the provisional capital of the Third Reich. Admiral Dönitz,
speaking from Flensburg’s Naval Academy at Mürwik, capitulated on
7th May 1945 ending the war in Europe.
Today, Flensburg, Germany’s gateway to the north is a vibrant
city with a distinct Scandinavian air. Große Straße, Flenburg’s
mainly pedestrianised shopping mile, runs south through the centre
of the old city from the Nordertor (Northern Gate) shown here on
the right. 17th and 18th Century alleyways and merchant courtyards,
off this main shopping street, have been restored providing
delightful settings for restaurants, arts and crafts, cafés and
galleries. Everywhere Flensburg’s close relationship with the sea
and the meeting of two cultures is very apparent.
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