25 years of town twinning: Forst plants trees for the future!

25 years of town twinning: Forst plants trees for the future!

A very special anniversary was celebrated in the heart of Lusatia: Forst, Brody and Lubsko celebrated a quarter of a century of town twinning in 2025. This was celebrated with an impressive tree planting campaign on the picturesque rice defense island, in which the mayors of the three partner cities each planted a tree. Each tree symbolizes a city and illustrates the common growth and the strongly grown environmental protection idea, which has become increasingly important over the years. The Niederlausitz site currently reports on this festive campaign, which turned out to be a powerful sign of sustainable cooperation. Particularly noteworthy is the motto of the celebrations: "Rosenbrücke", which underlines the connection between the cities and emphasizes the personal responsibility of each individual that acts for a harmonious coexistence.

The Schnittrosenchau "Rosy times - 25 years of the city partnership" in the visitor center invited the visitors: Inside, actively participating in the design. Volunteers from Forst and Brody have emerged by designing the magnificent arrangements. The guests had the opportunity to add "missing" bridge arches with insertion roses and thus symbolically contribute to the connection of the three cities.

planned activities for the anniversary

The anniversary year also offers a number of joint events that are intended to further consolidate the close connection between the three cities. On March 4, 2025, a concert in Brody will be the start of the celebrations, followed by a guided bike hike on May 18, 2025 in the footsteps of Graf Brühl. Another highlight is the German-Polish senior encounter on May 26, 2025 in Forst, where 25 senior: inside from Lubsko will be a guest. The sporting side will not be neglected either - SV Lausitz Forst will do its best at the football tournament on May 31, 2025.

The anniversary reached its climax on July 4, 2025 in Lubsko, where, among other things, the tour of the castle and the church in Dolzig are on the program. For August, a German-Polish film project with 20 children and a child and youth encounter in the outdoor pool of Forst are also planned, both of which take place on the occasion of the international day of youth. This commitment is also supported by the European Fund for Regional Development and the Small Project Fund of the EuroRegion Spree-Neiß-Bober, which underlines the importance and possibilities of the project.

A look at the history of the city partnerships

The city twinning between Germany and Poland have a long and eventful history. According to Deutschland.de, reconciliation began in 1965 with an appeal by the Polish Bishops' Conference: "We award and ask for forgiveness". Originally 42 partnerships were founded before 1989, and more than 200 new partnerships were added by the turn of the millennium, which shows how highly appreciated this form of cooperation becomes. But there are also challenges: financing bottlenecks represent a great obstacle, which was already addressed in surveys in 2019. Corona pandemic and the threatening economic situation could also burden the financial resources for future projects.

The response to the new forms of society is consistently positive. The role of cities and municipalities in reconciliation work is highly evaluated, and the positive effects that arise from these partnerships are immense.