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Wittichenau is blossoming: children experience unforgettable days in Bad Honnef!
Find out how children from Wittichenau visited Bad Honnef and celebrated the long-standing town partnership. Activities & Encounters.
Wittichenau is blossoming: children experience unforgettable days in Bad Honnef!
These days, an exciting connection is blossoming between Wittichenau and Bad Honnef, which is not only making waves but is also deeply rooted in history. A delegation from Wittichenau recently visited Bad Honnef to celebrate over 30 years of town twinning. The group, consisting of six lively children aged 11 to 13 and three dedicated carers, spent five varied days filled with various activities.
From a city rally, in which the children answered exciting quiz questions about Bad Honnef, to boxing training sessions at the ATV Selhof, the program left no room for boredom. A highlight was certainly the trip to Drachenfels and the Rolandseck Zoo. A visit to the outdoor pool on the island of Grafenwerth also provided a refreshing way to cool off after a hot summer day, while a night hike gave young visitors new perspectives on life in the city and the surrounding nature. Mayor Otto Neuhoff welcomed the group to the town hall and presented drinking bottles and wild seeds as a small souvenir of their stay.
A strong partnership
The town twinning between Bad Honnef and Wittichenau has existed since 1990 and has contributed a lot to international understanding since then. The partnership agreement was ceremoniously signed in Bad Honnef in 1990 and in Wittichenau in 1991. A significant event in the history of this partnership is November 9, 1989, when Werner Osterbrink, the former mayor of Wittichenau, experienced the fall of the Wall and at the same time the idea for the town twinning emerged. Osterbrink was mayor from 1983 to 1990 and was made an honorary citizen in 1995. Tragically, he recently passed away on June 19, 2025, shortly after his 90th birthday.
Wittichenau not only pursues exchanges with Bad Honnef, but also maintains partnerships with Tanvald in the Czech Republic and Lubomierz in Poland. These connections are part of an overarching movement known as town twinning, according to which Federal Agency for Civic Education was created after the Second World War to heal the wounds caused by the world wars in Europe. Town twinning enables exchange between citizens and thus promotes understanding and cooperation across national borders. There are now 5,497 such partnerships in Germany and the number continues to grow, which shows how important these initiatives are for European integration.
Shaping a shared future
The variety of activities organized as part of these partnerships range from friendly encounters to multinational youth camps to workshops and exchange programs. However, given the changing conditions of travel, characterized by globalization and lower airfares, it is important to find new ways of working together to preserve the altruistic spirit of city twinning.
Wittichenau and Bad Honnef show how you can build bridges through friendship and shared experiences - a model that is important not only for municipalities, but also for the whole of Europe. The next chapter of this collaboration remains to be seen with excitement!