GERMAN STUDENTS VISIT WILTSHIRE TO HONOUR A TWINNING FRIENDSHIP OF ALMOST 70 YEARS

STUDENTS from Niebull in Germany are enjoying a trip to their twin town of Malmesbury as the towns celebrate almost 70 years of friendship.

Twelve Year 9 and Year 10 students from Niebull were welcomed at a civic reception at the Town Hall led by Mayor Cllr Gavin Grant last week (June 7)

Cllr Grant said: “The connection between our two towns is based on the importance of our young people to the future of our communities, countries, continent and planet. 

“These young people walk in the footsteps of hundreds of young people from both our towns who have built this important friendship that we celebrate today and have honoured for almost 70 years.” 

Thirteen students from Friedrich-Paulsen-Schule are currently on the exchange visit organised by Malmesbury School and supported by the Malmesbury & District Twinning Association. During their stay, the students will be taking part in lessons and will be visiting Bath and Bristol as well as Malmesbury itself.  Students from Malmesbury School will be visiting Niebull themselves later this month. 

Headteacher Brett Jouny said: 

“At Malmesbury School we really value our foreign exchanges and partnerships. We know that one of the best parts of learning a new language is visiting the country and being part of the culture, exchanges allow our students to do this. They are very popular events, and we are delighted to have them up-and-running again for the first time since the pandemic. 

“We strive to prepare our students to be global citizens and part of this is learning a modern foreign language. Languages remain a very popular subject at the school.”

Niebull has been linkedwith Malmesbury since 1954 when the first youth exchange happened and over the years, hundreds of people from each town have visited each other. The towns were formally twinned in 1976. Niebull is a town with a population of around 10,000 and lies close to the Danish border in Nord Friesland, Schleswig-Holstien. 

In the town, residents speak German and Danish and their economy is based very strongly on the small business sector. Like Malmesbury, it has a strong artistic culture and is home to the Richard Haizmann Museum of Modern Art, the Natural History Museum and the Frisian Museum.

Malmesbury Town Council works in partnership with Malmesbury School and the Malmesbury & District Twinning Association to ensure that strong links are kept with its two twin towns – Niebull in Germany and Gien, in the Loire region of France – a three way relationship with is unusual in town twinning. 

Malmesbury also has a strong connection to two ‘friendship’ towns: Malmesbury which is the principal town in Svartland, West Cape Province, South Africa and Bad Hersfeld, Hersfeld-Rotenburg District, Hesse in Germany. 

For more information about Malmesbury Town Council visit https://www.malmesbury.gov.uk