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BBTA Newsletter No 4.

By on Mar 23, 2016

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Two Countries, Twin Flags

Bath – Braunschweig
Twinning Association
Newsletter
No 4 Dec 2015
In This Issue
Monthly meetings
Honouring Esther
BBTA Annual Dinner
Bridge
Individual exchanges
Book from Braunschweig
Season’s Greetings
Petanque in Bath
News from Braunschweig
Treve Erdmenger
Did you know?
Stammtisch

Monthly meetings are held in the Mayor’s Parlour in the Guildhall in Bath
Next meetings:
   Friday   8 Jan               2 pm
   Friday   5 Feb               2 pm
   Friday   4 Mar               2 pm
   Friday   1 Apr                2 pm
   Friday   6 May               2 pm
To join, contact:
Hilary Elms, Secretary BBTA
208, Old Frome Rd
BATH  BA2 5RH
01225 837790
h.elms412@btinternet.com
Quick Links
www.bath-braunschweigtwinningassociation.co.uk
www.book-of-phd.com/BoPHD_screen.pdf
www.mayorofbath.co.uk

Forced Walks
is a programme of public walks to commemorate the death marches in the closing years of WW2.  Lorna Brunstein and Richard White are proposing a walk on 4 and 5 February 2016 which will follow as far as possible the exact route taken by Esther Brunstein (Lorna’s mother) and other survivors 71 years ago from near Hannover to Bergen Belsen. If you would like to join the walk or just like to learn more please visit
www.forcedwalks.wordpress.com

BBTA Annual Dinner
15 Oct 2015
at the Rising Sun
20 of us enjoyed an excellent meal at the Rising Sun with German specialities on the menu. Afterwards Don Withers (below) entertained us at the keyboard.
Many thanks to Don Grimes for organising the evening.

BRIDGE BETWEEN TWIN CITIES
Enthusiastic bridge players in Bath have made contact with the director of a bridge club in Braunschweig. At the moment we are learning more about one another and our clubs and exchanging photos of our activities. We hope to invite a group of Braunschweig players to visit Bath in July 2016 when we can offer them a number of bridge sessions, social events and – of course – the opportunity to explore Bath and its sights.
Judy Spencer

Individual Exchange visits:
are you interested in visiting Braunschweig?
perhaps staying with a family inBraunschweig?
and maybe inviting them to stay with you in Bath?
Contact Barbara Heck at the DEG (see link)

Our book from Braunschweig
The latest book from our twin town is a children’s book by the journalist and writer Birgit Schlieper.  Its title
“Eine Macke kommt selten allein”  promises many idiosyncracies and perhaps misfortune, but it is in fact a charming tale of two 12 year olds who become friends and spend their summer devising ways of making extra pocket money, which leads them into sometimes unfortunate adventures.  The novel is amusingly written in a suitably simple style, but contains some swear words (which readers will no doubt recognise) and some examples of current child-speak, which will be more challenging.  The scenes of family life will strike a chord with everyone. It can be taken out on loan from Bath Central Library.
Bath Library has chosen Emma Healey’s debut novel “Elizabeth is missing”, which has been favourably reviewed, to send to Braunschweig.
Judy Spencer

Frohe Weihnachten und ein          glückliches neues Jahr !
photo:Braunschweig Stadtmarketing GmbH
         Braunschweig Christmas Market

                      

City of Bath Petanque Club
10th Anniversary  July 2015
This was quite an international competition  with teams from Aix-en-Provence, Kaposvar , Vienna, the Black Forest and Jersey as well as our group of 15 from Braunschweig
We were lucky to have warm, pleasant weather with only a light shower of rain. We managed to visit the well known sights of Bath and places of interest in the vicinity, as well as renewing friendly contacts with members of the BBTA.
We are not experienced players, and most of us do it just for fun and from interest in French culture. Well, we did not win the cup, but we did have a lot of fun on a warm sunny Saturday at the new pétanque terrain, that was ceremoniously opened that morning.
The cup winners were Kaposvar with Aix-en-Provence second. An unforgettable day for which we thank all the organizers, but especially Don Grimes, and Diane Greenaway.
These encounters and activities across borders are what makes twinning worthwhile. We came home with good memories, a sense of what the European Union really means and the wish to see our friends from Bath and other places back here in Braunschweig before too long.
DEG team from Braunschweig

News from Braunschweig

 

 

The main news at present is the large number of refugees in the city. One of the three State Reception Authorities for Lower Saxony is in Braunschweig; there are thus between 3000 and 4000 refugees at any one time being assessed before being relocated within Germany or sent home if they come from a safe place. Not surprisingly reactions of people in Braunschweig vary. Some, especially those living near the camp complain of antisocial behaviour; on the other hand there are many initiatives trying to help the refugees in all sorts of different ways.

Other news is the emissions scandal at Volkswagen. Many people in the region, including my husband, work at the site in nearby Wolfsburg. He says that the atmosphere there is really bad and people are concerned about the possibility of losing their jobs.

But to finish on a more optimistic note: the carnival season has just started and people plan to make 2016 the best ever!

 

Katrin Landsmann

 

TREVE ERDMENGER
It was with great sadness that we learned of the sudden and unexpected death on 11 October of Treve Erdmenger.
Treve was the moving spirit of the DEG (Anglo German Society of Braunschweig) for more than 30 years and will be sadly missed.

Did you know?
 
         Das Grüne Band
(the German Green Belt) is a strip of land nearly 1400 km long and up to several hundred metres wide that follows the route of the Iron Curtain between the former West and East Germanies from the Baltic to the Czech border. It passes about 40 km east of Braunschweig.
Two decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain Europe’s largest nature reserve is now an ecological treasure trove and home to more than 600 rare species of flora and fauna.
This landscape of memories with its long distance walking and cycle routes has become an important area of sustainable tourism.
The unique combination of nature, culture and history is a living monument to German reunification.
©Regionalverbund Thüringer Wald e.V.

Stammtisch


If you would like to practise your German in a friendly informal atmosphere over  ‘Kaffe und Kuchen’ come to the Stammtisch –  every Wednesday throughout the year between midday and 1:00pm, in the upstairs room at Cafe Retro, 18 York Street, Bath (by Bog Island).