Bad Krozingen - Bürger und Gemeinde

VIB was founded in 1984 in order to support Bad Krozingen’s international relationships in its broadest sense. At present, the society has approximately 170 members, and international relations with twin towns, friendship towns and schools are inconceivable without the support of VIB. By virtue of his position, the Mayor is president of the society thus ensuring an intensive co-operation between the municipality and VIB.

It was Mrs. Mauricette Chupin who first established contact with one of the oldest spa cities in Europe – Gréoux-les-Bains in Southern France. As Mrs. Chupin and her family had been living in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau for many years, she knew Bad Krozingen very well. Gréoux-les-Bains with its 2.500 residents is located in Haute Provence approximately 80 km from Marseille. In 1985, twinning between Bad Krozingen, Gréoux-les-Bains and its neighbouring village Esparron de Verdon (approx. 330 residents) was officially sealed. Esparron is idyllically situated at the lake of Esparron offering several camping sites, a sailing school and many bathing facilities. In the summer, many tourists visit Esparron thus increasing its population by several thousand.

From the very beginning of the relationship, many exchanges between local residents, societies and politicians have taken place every year. In the past, joint municipal council meetings were organized in order to deal with subjects such as environmental protection etc. There are many occasions for visiting each other, for example St. Sebastian’s Day (St. Sebastian is the patron saint of Gréoux-les-Bains), the carnival and the Christmas market of Bad Krozingen. Every year, a German language course is offered to pupils of the French partner towns thus presenting a chance for exchange between the younger generation. Summer internships in the respective partner towns are also a favoured possibility for improving the knowledge of the partner’s language.

In the meantime, the beer festival of Gréoux-les-Bains which takes place every two years in late summer and which is partially organized by residents of Bad Krozingen has met with approval on both sides.

It goes without saying that lots of people from Bad Krozingen spend their holidays in the provençal partner town.

By living with host families (a so-called homestay) a vital element for deepening the connections between the residents is established.

As the city of Naoiri (approx. 3.000 inhabitants) has one of the highest carbonated thermal springs in Japan, Mr. Man’ichi Iwaya, Naoiri’s former mayor, some members of the town council and businessmen decided in 1989 to learn more about European spa culture thus finding new ideas and perspectives for Naoiri’s younger generation. By visiting Bad Krozingen, the delegation thought they had come across a health resort with a similar structure to Naoiri. At the very beginning of this visit, friendly relations developed resulting in the official twinning in 2004 which have had a positive effect ever since.

Thanks to German-speaking co-ordinators working in the city council of Taketa-Naoiri, exchanges between the partner towns are possible without any linguistic problems. In this context, we would like to mention the work of Freiburg’s German-Japanese Cultural Society.

The excellent relations with Bad Krozingen resulted in the construction of the thermal bath “Gozenyu” in 1998 and the partnership with Bad Krozingen’s thermal bath “Vita classica” in 1999. Since that time, Vita classica and Bad Krozingen are the preferred destination of Japanese spa experts.

Since 1999, Bad Krozingen’s Max-Planck-Realschule and Naoiri’s Junior Highschool have been organizing pupil exchanges.

Our Japanese friends like the wine-growing region around Bad Krozingen leading to the foundation of a joint wine trading company called NAKRO which successfully exports wine to Japan. Bad Krozingen’s winegrowers are closely connected with this trade and have dedicated some vineyards of the Rebberg to their Japanese friends.

Despite a distance of 10.000 km many societies, clubs and groups took the opportunity to visit the respective twin town.

In spring 2005, Naoiri as well as Kuju and Ogi were incorporated into the city of Taketa (approx. 17.000 inhabitants). Even after this incorporation the partnership has continued to grow. The mayor of Taketa, Mr. Goji Maki, is strongly encouraging the partnership. To emphasize the good relationship, Bad Krozingen’s mayor, Dr. Ekkehart Meroth, and a large delegation visited the Japanese twin town on the southern island of Kyushu in November 2006.

On the occasion of the 5^th anniversary of the partnership with the two towns in Southern France in 1991, Mr. and Mrs. Steinhübl, a couple living in Bad Krozingen, suggested a twinning with a town of their former homeland in East Europe. Bojnice - one of the oldest spa cities in Slovakia with approximately 5.000 residents– was chosen as the partner town. The constantly growing friendly relations between the residents of Bojnice and Bad Krozingen will probably lead to an official twinning in the near future. Bojnice which is situated 170 km to the north east of the capital Bratislava is famous for its castle in neo-Gothic style and for one of the biggest zoological gardens of Slovakia.

One of the most important aspects of the partnership is the exchange of pupils and trainees. Bad Krozingen’s high school – the Kreisgymnasium Bad Krozingen – maintains close partnership with the Piaristischen Gymnasium in Prievidza, a town near Bojnice. Since 2007, close contacts have been established between the two primary and secondary schools of Bad Krozingen and Bojnice.

Further important events in the partnership were the granting of honorary citizenship to Bad Krozingen’s former mayor Dr. Wolfgang Fuchs, Bad Krozingen’s support for the construction of the catholic church in the Dubnica area of Bojnice, the German-Slovak week in Bad Krozingen in September 2001, the autumn festival in Bojnice in 2006 as well as several European meetings in Bojnice. The last meeting with members of Bojnice’s twin towns in Italy, Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic took place in October 2007.

Thanks to Bad Krozingen’s honorary citizen Zenta Maurina, the popular Latvian philosopher and writer who died in Bad Krozingen in 1978, the city could establish various contacts with the young Baltic Republic of Latvia. A very important step towards a friendship was the concert of the vocal ensemble “Nianse” who came from Latvia’s capital Riga to Bad Krozingen in 1992. Almost every year there are choirs, dancing and music groups travelling from Riga, Jurmala, Liepaja and Balvi to Bad Krozingen in order to visit the last residence of the outstanding Zenta Maurina.

Also contacts between schools, in particular with the Draudzina Gymnasium in Riga, must be mentioned in this context. Young Latvian people like coming to Bad Krozingen in order to improve their knowledge of German by undertaking an internship.

In return, the dancing and singing festival which takes place in Riga every two years enjoys great popularity among Bad Krozingen’s population.

Her good experience with language courses in Bad Krozingen inspired Mrs. Lindy Steel, German teacher at Springwood-State-Highschool in Brisbane, to renew contacts with her friends in the city 16.000 km away from Brisbane. As a result the first exchange between Springwood-State Highschool and several schools in Bad Krozingen took place in December 1989. This exchange led to an official partnership with Bad Krozingen’s Max-Planck-Realschule in 1994. Up to this day, exchange programmes have been organized every year. Mrs. Hildegard Künstle and Mr. Lothar Moehrke, both teachers of Max-Planck-Realschule, have provided great support for this partnership for many years.