Braunschweig International was a great success last weekend and you can see photos of the DEG stall here: https://www.deg-bs.de/deutsch/fotogalerie/ Our friends were offering British finger food and books, as well as information about Bath, and tell us that they attracted many German and international visitors, including the current and previous Lord Mayors. We hope we can manage something similar at Bath’s Christmas Market in December.
At a time of national mourning, it is with regret that the civic visit of Brunswick’s Lord Mayor and colleagues, which was planned for the weekend of 10th – 12th September, has had to be cancelled. The Lord Mayor has paid tribute to the late Queen in a letter to the Mayor of Bath. It is hoped that the visit can be re-scheduled for later this year. One visit which did go ahead, however, was that of some former school pupils of Belfast and Marburg (Kirchhain) who still meet regularly to celebrate their first exchange back in 1966. We owe this contact to a member of the Cardiff-Stuttgart Association, and members of BBTA and Bath German Society had great pleasure in meeting them and showing them the famous – and some less famous – sights of Bath, giving them a guided tour in English and German. Online meetings with the DEG continue, most recently to discuss the theme of travelling in poetry. The book chosen for the next meeting is: “The Dictionary of Lost Words” by Pip Williams. Bookworms are welcome to join us by contacting the secretary of BBTA. At the end of September Brunswick is hosting a festival “Braunschweig International” celebrating – as the name implies – our twin town’s international links. We have contributed information about Bath for potential visitors. Our next meeting takes place on Friday, 16th September, when we hope to make plans for...
The AGM of the BBTA will take place on Friday, 22nd July, when the committee will start planning for the next round of exchanges.
On Sunday, 17th July, members of the BBTA were pleased to welcome members of the Bristol-Hannover Council and many of their exchange partners to Bath. The guests were especially interested to visit the Herschel Museum (Herschel was born in Hanover) and later to meet Bath’s MP, Wera Hobhouse, who was also born in Hanover. For the latter meeting, the guests were welcomed to the Abbey by Jeremy Key-Pugh, who told them something of the history of the Abbey. It was a pleasure to meet so many people for whom twinning has been a part of their lives since their schooldays.
Members of BBTA spent a very enjoyable day with members of the Cardiff-Stuttgart Association on 2nd July. They were very impressed by the Herschel Museum and by the facilities at BRLSI, and were pleased to hear about the Herschel Symposium which the latter are organising in October. For many of us it is ideal that we can now participate in such events online. Herschel was, of course, born in Hanover, and his Museum will once again be the focus of a visit by the Bristol-Hannover Council on 17th July. BHC are currently celebrating the 75th anniversary of their twinning link with a wide range of events and civic visits. One of the more unusual activities was the sailing of a small cutter from Hanover to Bristol, bearing a large barrel of gin. The cutter was actually registered in Brunswick! As it passed through Bath, members of BBTA were invited on board for a short cruise on the canal and the chance to sample some of the Hannover gin, which we can heartily recommend. The barrel must be returned to Hanover, but the contents will be bottled and sold to raise funds for two charities: the Invictus Games and the German War Graves Commission. We wish them bon voyage for the safe completion of their...
Readers can catch up on some of BBTA’s activities by downloading our June Newsletter from this website. More recently our member Robert Grözinger gave a wide-ranging talk (in English) for the German Society on German involvement in the Battle of Waterloo. It was especially interesting to hear of the role played by the Black Brunswickers, and the sad fate of their commander, Duke Friedrich Wilhelm. Meanwhile, bookworms also enjoyed a discussion with our friends from the DEG in Brunswick on “The Day of the Dugong” by John Ironmonger. The next online book club meeting will be later in the summer and have poems and travelling as its theme. There is also the chance to discuss Judith Hermann’s “Daheim” in German on 14th July; once again this is organised by the German Society, and may have a follow up discussion online. For those of us who want to escape from the digital world, we are very much looking forward to meeting friends from the Cardiff-Stuttgart Association in Bath on 2nd July when they come to visit the Herschel Museum. Members have been invited to join us for various parts of the...