Advent Invitation from Itzehoe - 30th Nov to 4th Dec
Liebe Freunde in Cirencester, La Couronne, Paslek und Malchin, Itzehoe, 20.10.2023
der Partnerschaftsverein der Stadt Itzehoe lädt interessierte Bürger und Bürgerinnen von Itzehoes Partnerstädten Cirencester, La Couronne, Malchin und Paslek herzlich ein, zu unserem traditionellen Adventstreffen vom 30.11. – 04.12.2023 nach Itzehoe zu kommen.
Wir würden uns sehr freuen, wenn Sie alle im Verlauf des Donnerstag, 30. November anreisen könnten. Sie werden – wenn gewünscht – von uns in Hamburg vom Flughafen abgeholt und am Montag, 04.12. auch wieder dorthin gebracht.
Am Freitag, 01.12. wollen wir vormittags in Itzehoe je nach Ihrer Wahl das Wenzel-Hablik-Museum, das Kreismuseum und / oder das Haus der Heimat besuchen. Das Mittagessen wollen wir gemeinsam in Kellinghusen einnehmen und danach das dortige Fayence-Museum besuchen. Ein kleiner Rundgang durch den hübschen Ort soll sich anschließen. Wir werden mit dem Bus zurück nach Itzehoe fahren, wo wir um 18 Uhr im Rathaus von unserem Bürgervorsteher und unserem Bürgermeister empfangen werden. Um 19.30 Uhr findet unser traditionelles Adventsessen für alle Gäste, Gastgeber, Mitglieder und Freunde des Vereins im Hotel Mercator statt.
Am Sonnabend, 02. Dezember wollen wir mit dem Bus nach Flensburg fahren. Dort wollen wir an einer Stadtführung teilnehmen, die mit einer Rumverkostung und dem Besuch des kleinen Rummuseums der Firma Braasch endet. Nach dem gemeinsamen Mittagessen ist Zeit, sich auf eigene Faust im adventsgeschmückten Stadtzentrum umzuschauen, z. B. auf den Adventsmärkten Holm, Große Straße, Südermarkt oder eines der Museen zu besuchen (z.B. das Schifffahrtsmuseum). Gegen 19 Uhr wollen wir zurück in Itzehoe sein und den Abend in den Gastfamilien verbringen.
Am Sonntag, 03.12 soll es per Bahn nach Husum gehen. Dort steht vor dem gemeinsamen Mittagessen eine Führung durch das Schloss auf dem Programm und nach dem Essen der Besuch des Weihnachtshauses. Bevor es mit der Bahn wieder nach Hause geht, wollen wir ein wenig Zeit auf dem Husumer Weihnachtsmarkt verbringen und durch die erleuchteten Straßen zum Hafen schlendern. Die Rückkehr nach Itzehoe ist für 19 Uhr vorgesehen.
Am Montag, 04.12.2023 heißt es dann Abschied nehmen.
Bitte teilen Sie uns möglichst schnell mit, mit wieviel Personen Sie kommen möchten, damit wir für alle eine kostenlose private Unterbringung finden.
Alle Gäste sind in allen von uns besuchten Restaurants
vom Partnerschaftsverein zum Essen eingeladen.
Im Namen des Vorstandes grüße ich Sie herzlich
Renate Wilms-Marzisch
Dear friends in Cirencester, La Couronne , Paslek and Malchin,
the Itzehoe Twinning Association are inviting intersted citizens from our partner towns to come to our traditional Advents meet from 30.11.23 – 04.12.23
We would be delighted if you could travel to us on Nov 30th . You will be picked up by us at Hamburg airport -if that fits with your plans- and taken back there on Monday Dec 4th
On Friday Dec 1st, we are planning to visit the Wenzel Hablik Museum, the area museum and /or the Fatherland museum. We will have lunch together in Kellinghusen and visit the Fayence Museum afterwards. We can then take a short walk around this attractive area. After returning to Itzehoe by coach we attend a reception by the mayor and the town clerk at 6pm in the town hall. At 7.30 we will enjoy our traditional advents meal in the Hotel Mercator with all guests, hosts, members and friends of the Association.
On Saturday Dec 2nd we will travel by coach to Flensburg. There we will take part in a town walk which will end with a rum tasting and a visit to the little rum museum run by Braasch Firm. After a lunch together there will be time to look around the town centre with all its Advent finery – there are advent markets, a main street or some museums to choose from. We will be back in Itzehoe about 7pm and will spend the evening with the host families.
On Sunday Dec 3rd we will go by train to Husum. Before lunching together we will visit the castle and after lunch we will go to the Christmas House. Before returning on the train we will spend a little time at the Husum Christmas market and stroll through the illuminated streets to the harbour. We return to Itzehoe at 7pm.
On Monday Dec 4th we say farewell.
Please let us know as soon as possible who is coming so we can find free private accommodation for everyone. All guests are invited to eat by their hosts in all the restaurants we visit.
I welcome you very warmly in the name of the Twinning Association
Renate Wilms Marzisch.
Early Summer Invitation from Itzehoe - 1st to 5th June
Dear friends, Itzehoe, 25th April 2023
We hope that you are all well and are enjoying a spring without the Corona-virus.
As I wrote to you some time ago, our twinning association has made several plans for this year: two lectures about Preußisch Holland in Poland and a journey to Poland in September, a weekend trip to Malchin, and – as usual - we want to invite our friends from our twin towns for the Weinfest weekend from 1st to 5th June and to a weekend in Advent from 30th Nov. to 4th December.
Today we would like to know who would like to come to Itzehoe at the beginning of June? We can offer the following programme:
Thursday, 01.06.: arrival in Itzehoe and meeting the host families
Friday, 02.06.: trip to Flensburg or Schleswig (depending on the wish of our guests)
In the evening: meeting the members of the twinning association for a meal
Saturday, 03.06.: morning: visit to Kellinghusen or Glückstadt
afternoon: participation in the reception for the Weinfest opening, visit of Itzehoe town center
evening: taking part in the Weinfest
Sunday, 04.06. Trip to Husum and / or to the North Sea at St. Peter or Büsum
Monday, 05.06. Departure
The programme can be changed according to the wishes of the people who will come. If they know one of the suggested places we can go somewhere else. As usual, we are prepared to pick you up at the airport and to host you free of charge in host families.
We are looking forward to hearing from you as soon as possible (until May 20th at the latest). We hope that we have encouraged you to come and enjoy spring in Schleswig Holstein together with us.
Kind regards
Renate Wilms-Marzisch (president of the Partnerschaftsverein Itzehoe)
Advent Invitation from Itzehoe - 2nd to 5th December
Dear Friends in Cirencester,
We hope that you are well. As we let you know long ago we want to invite you to come to Itzehoe for the second advent weekend, 02. - 05.12.2022, because you told us that on the first advent weekend you have your Christmas market in Cirencester where you sell your beautiful calendars.
We would be very happy if a great number of people from Cirencester and its surroundings would come to Itzehoe from Friday 02.12.2022 to Monday 05.12.2022. We propose the following programme:
Friday: 02.12.22 morning: arrival
afternoon: visit of the exhibition organized by Dr. Anita Chmielewski: Everything started in East Prussia - the History of the success of the "Landfrauenbewegung"
19h30 dinner with all our guests, members and friends of Partnerschaftsverein Itzehoe in Café Schwarz
Saturday 03.12.2022 excursion to Schleswig: visit of the cathedral, lunch in the part of the town called "Fischer-Holm",
14h00 visit of the well-known adventmarket in Schwahlmarkt (cloister of the cathedral)
Return to Itzehoe, ca. 19h00; perhaps visit of an advent concert
Sunday 04.12.2022 excursion to Schwerin (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, former East Germany)
8h15 depart from Itzehoe, guided town walk of Schwerin, lunch in a restaurant,
Visit of the well-known Christmas market in the town center. Return to Itzehoe ca. 19h30.
Monday 05.12.2022 departure or excursion to Hamburg
We would be delighted if a lot of people from your town came. Please let us know by 20.11.2022 at the latest who is going to come and at what time, because we have to find private accommodation for everybody coming,
Please write to my e-mail address<URWilms-Marzisch@t-online.de>
or to my postal address Alte Landstr. 6 25524 Itzehoe
We are looking forward to seeing you soon.
Kind regards
Renate Wilms-Marzisch (president of Partnerschaftsverein Itzehoe)
Reawakening!
As the impact of Covid 19 wanes (fingers crossed!) and life returns to normal, the CTA is renewing links and arrangine visits with our friends in Germany and France
The celebration of 30 years of twinning with Itzehoe, which was due to take place in 2020, has now taken place during the week from Sunday 26th June to Friday 1st July 2022. Details are on the Visits page.
CTA February 2022 Newsletter Click the button to download the Newsletter !
It is two years since we have really been able to think about meeting with our European partners, principally those in Itzehoe but not forgetting St Genis Laval who welcomed us so enthusiastically a few years ago.
We have not disappeared though and you may have been able to purchase a copy of this year’s calendar in the Parish church shop or the tourist centre in Bingham House. It has proved very popular this year with many beautiful pictures and was particularly well received as a souvenir of happy past occasions by friends in Itzehoe and elsewhere who have hosted or visited us. Next year’s calendar is in the pipeline and looks set to be another poignant and colourful collection of pictures of Cirencester today and yesterday. Money raised from the sale of the calendars is destined to help with our exchanges and possibly assist young people looking to broaden their language and cultural experiences. We are particularly pleased to have learnt that Lily, who went to Itzehoe in 2019 is now studying German at Oxford. What an achievement!
Meanwhile in Itzehoe, as affected as much as we have been of course by Covid, they have had to put their 30 years of twinning celebration on hold for 2 years and are now extending a very cordial invitation to us to join them for their celebrations from June 26th to July 1st 2022. It promises to be an amazing visit with lots to do and see so if you think this might be for you let us know. Board and lodging are provided -you might want to take your hosts out for a meal of course- but there is a full programme of activities for us to enjoy together. It is our intention to reciprocate the invitation to visit us here in Cirencester in 2023.
To celebrate 25 years of twinning with a number of towns, the Itzehoe twinning group has spent some of lockdown putting together a complete history of all their visits and events over the years with wonderful pictures and information, some of which is relevant to us and our beginnings. We have, in fact, been twinned with Itzehoe since 1982 and if anyone would like to read about our long association with our German partner we can provide an English translation as well as loan a copy of the whole book. Please just get in contact.
Another exciting development arising from this year’s calendar is the setting up of links and a competition between the Cirencester Camera Club and Lichtbilderfreunde in Itzehoe. This promises to develop friendships between people who share a common passion and will doubtless bring us all much pleasure when we see the results of their contact with one another. Meanwhile the twinning associations in our umbrella group have been hosting regular quiz events by zoom - just ask for contact details if you would like to know more of their events.
Whilst things are opening up in the UK generally it still seems sensible to meet by zoom and it is our intention to hold a zoom meeting for anyone who would like to meet other people in the association or just catch up with things soon. Details will be sent out to all members and we would be delighted if those details could be passed on to anyone they think might be interested to hear more about us and our plans for the future or indeed can offer suggestions how we might move forward in the coming years!
CTA Spring 2020 Newsletter Click the button to download the Newsletter !
Twin town visit to Itzehoe, 28 Nov - 2 Dec 2019
It seems only yesterday that we were enjoying the best of summer weather and hosting our friends from Itzehoe to all that the Cotswolds has to offer. The year ended in style with a small but select contingent from CTA travelling to Germany to enjoy the “Itzehoe Advent 2019” tour.
From Thu 28 Nov until Mon 2 Dec 19, Peter Berrell and his daughter Lily, Lesley and Ben Thackeray, and Marion and Peter Stephenson were the sole ‘overseas’ visitors for the weekend. However, for a part of the weekend they were joined by four people from Malchin (about 200 km from Itzehoe and who enjoy a ‘friendship’ with the Itzehoe Twinning Group) and a further four from Paslek in Poland, who are twinned with Itzehoe.
The Cirencester contingent flew from Heathrow to Hamburg, where they were met and conveyed to Itzehoe. Renate, the enthusiastic and tireless President of Itzehoe Twinning Association, greeted all of the guests at a meal on their first full day. On behalf of the CTA, Marion Stephenson presented a card and calendar to Renate, and made a short address thanking their hosts. The Polish Group also made a presentation.
(Newsletter thanks to Barbara Cooper)
As we have come to expect, all the arrangements went well and, with friendly and welcoming hosts, the CTA contingent greatly enjoyed their visit. There were some interesting and enjoyable group meals, including one in the basement restaurant of the Hamburg town hall (much grander than it sounds), on the banks of the River Eider, and at the home of one of the hosts.
Then, by means of train, minibus and car, the group enjoyed a feast of Christmas Markets. Hamburg was the largest and the group arrived in time to enjoy a major parade. Barmstedt offered local produce, while Toenning (by the coast) was snugly indoors in a restored warehouse. For further variety, the group were also taken to a Finnish Christmas Market in Hohenlockstedt.
Lily had a good time at a local secondary school, where she spent a day. Renate is happy to assist with any other people studying German who would like spend some time with a German family.
This year offers the ideal opportunity to join the CTA and see what it is all about. Cirencester has been invited to join in the Itzehoe twinning festival on 3rd – 8th June. This will mark the 30th anniversaries of twinning with Paslek (Poland) and friendship with Malchin (from former East Germany) and will include their Weinfest. They also hope that the folk from La Couronne (France) will be there to join in the celebrations. CTA has been linked to Itzehoe, near Hamburg, since 1982 and St Genis Laval, near Lyon.
If you are interested in joining this trip, please contact us on the website contact form and we will be delighted to give you more details.
Linking International Twinnings
Following on from a Bristol Conference promoting International Twinning between towns and cities where 'Twinning is a tried and tested way of linking people with their counterparts in other countries', Cirencester Twinning has taken the initiative to form an Umbrella group with neighbours Tetbury, Malmesbury and Nailsworth Twinning in order to collaborate and support one another in today's diminishing interest for European connection.
Our first meeting was held last year on 20th November, hosted by Tetbury and Chaired by CTA with support from Patrick Coleman our mayor, was met with an enthusiastic response from all members. We believe that collaboration with one another exchanging ideas and sharing social events will strengthen our resolve to keep the doors to Europe open. Malmesbury hosted our second meeting on 19th February, at which plans, experiences and ideas were shared.
For more information, please contact Margaret
We enjoyed several meals together and are very grateful to our Mayor, Patrick Coleman for his support during the visit. The Mayor of Itzehoe, Dr Koeppen, and the leader of the council, Dr Mueller, also came for the weekend and we all enjoyed a civic reception at the Bingham Library. Corinium Radio interviewed several members of the group and their English hosts and you can listen to the interview by going onto their website and following their links.
Together as a group we visited Chedworth Roman Villa and Sudeley Castle and then on Sunday 14 July we enjoyed guided tours of the town by the Civic Society before congregating around the tree in Cricklade Street to take photos. The bench and tree were presented to Cirencester by Itzehoe in 1993. The tub with the badges of Cirencester and Itzehoe, cared for by the Phoenix Gardeners, added greatly to the setting. In the afternoon we enjoyed listening to Cirencester Band as they celebrated their centenary, joined by members of the Oelixdoerfer band.
Our group in Cricklade Street
Our guided tour
of Sudeley Castle
Our German friends departed, leaving us with invitations to join them at the advent markets or the wine festival in May. Itzehoe is also planning a major twinning celebration with all their twin towns next June and would be delighted to see people from Cirencester there. For details of these events and further information about the twinning association please go to the Cirencester Twinning Association website where we will post information as we receive it.
We are hoping to arrange for a group of our friends from Saint Genis Laval to visit us some time next summer – details will be posted on the website as they develop. Get in touch if you would like to be involved – hosting, organising, catering or just being convivial!
CTA 2019 Newsletter Click the button to download the Newsletter !
Twin town visit from Itzehoe, 11 – 15 July 2019
Cirencester Twinning Association was delighted to welcome a group of 24, mostly from Itzehoe, our twin town in Germany, but also from Malchin in what was East Germany, who are also twinned with Itzehoe. The weather was glorious throughout the visit so we were able to show off the Cotswolds at their very best
(Newsletter thanks to Barbara Cooper)
Membership
Hosting our German and French friends has given great pleasure and satisfaction to everyone involved. New people come into our lives at the beginning of the week and often leave as life-long friends. This wonderful friendship between our countries becomes even more relevant with our country’s own uncertain relationship with Europe. We look forward to the continuing support or our current membership and are actively seeking new members of all ages and backgrounds.
To join, please download the form found under 'Contact Us' cirencestertwinningassociation.org.uk
Committee Members
If you would like to go one step further then please think about joining our committee which meets generally 5/6 times a year. We need 2 or 3 new Committee members and younger members are particularly welcome. Tetbury Twinning has been in touch with a view to collaboration and maybe sharing social events which we would welcome.
Future Events
28 Nov – 3 Dec 19 – invitation from Itzehoe to visit the Christmas markets. They are very generous hosts and the markets are always a delight Everyone invited!
30 Nov 19 Help needed for assistance on the Twinning Stall in the Market Place. We shall be pouring drinks, selling cakes, selling our 2020 Fundraising Calendar and chatting to the folks of Cirencester!
3 – 8 Jun 20 Itzehoe are inviting us along with their French, Polish and Malchin partners for a bonanza long weekend.
Three Years of CTA Calendars
This winter the CTA calendars have again sold like hot cakes!
Billed as the only pure Cirencester Calendar, the first year showed a collection of beautiful photos of the town.
The second included more spectacular photos of Ciren, while the third was entirely paintings by local artists - even the fantastic one of the stained glass window in the Town Hall at Itzehoe.
We hope you and your friends have enjoyed all three!
6th July 2018- French Evening
Invitiation from Cirencester Twinning Association : Try your hand at pétanque
The Cirencester Twinning Association is delighted to invite interested people of Cirencester to join us from 8pm onwards for a French themed evening of petanque, drink and nibbles on Friday 6th July. There will be a Committee meeting from 7-8pm at the same venue for anyone interested in joining Committee. Email Jo at cirencestertwinning@gmail.com for more details of the social evening.
VE Day Celebrations
CTA with founding members of SGL Twinning Association: M and Mme Mottard, Jo Wood, Susannah Gilbert and Richard Gunner
At the Mairie with Mayor Roland Crimier and his team
Right: Welcome to Saint Genis - proud of their connection with Cirencester!
May 2018 - ExploratoryVisit to Saint Genis Laval
Update from Cirencester Twinning Association :- Merci à Jane Austen! Pacte d’amitié : Cirencester – Saint-Genis-Laval stays strong!
We have Jane Austen to thank for improvement in Anglo-French relations. Thanks to a recent tour of noteworthy Austen domiciles by friends of Cirencester from Saint-Genis-Laval, a sizeable group were able to detour to Cirencester to say “Bonjour”. This was back in October and since then residents of Saint Genis Laval (SGL) have been reconnecting with our townsfolk and generously hosted four of our number over this first May Bank Holiday weekend.
Highlights included a trip around SGL: the Parc Beauregard in SGL with its community vineyard, to the University of Lyon observatory and attendance (and speech!) at VE day celebrations and Armistice Day commemoration. Visits further afield took us into Lyon to the recently refurbished Grand Hotel Dieu and into the villages to meet mature students of the ASPAL English course.
As the first official group visiting from CTA for a while, we were treated to many occasions to meet people interested in reigniting local friendships whether it be for linguistic reasons, for pleasure, for travel or for community spirit. The underlying evidence from SGL was that this is a town wholeheartedly supporting Anglo-French friendship, worried for the outcome of Brexit and wishing to remain as close as possible to our country and our town of Cirencester.
Getting-to-Know-You Supper with Saint Genis Laval
A group from Saint Genis Laval will be visiting Cirencester on Thursday 19th October, staying for just one night. To welcome them and introduce them to as many Francofiles as we can, we have booked the function room at the Greyhound, Siddington. The pub is preparing a special fixed-price menu for us, and we will try to arrange for as much mingling as possible.
If you would like to join us for the supper, please click here and send the e-mail to let us know numbers.
Newsletter Autumn 2017
Update from Cirencester Twinning Association (if you don't see the newsletter below, please click the download button)
Invitation from Itzehoe, Advent 2017
With Programme of Events for the Weekend (if you don't see the newsletter below, please click the download button)
Saturday was a day to introduce our guests to the beauty of Cirencester, with Civic Society guided tours of the historic features, building the Lego model of the original Abbey (details here), guided climbs up the tower of the Parish Church - and in the afternoon a visit to the world-famous Corinium Museum
On Sunday a coach tour around the most scenic of the Cotswold villages had been arranged, with stops to enjoy the tranquility and atmosphere.
The tour finished at the Fairford Community Centre, with a welcome by Jennie Sanford, Mayor of Fairford, guided tours of the historic Church and a fabulous tea with cakes. Our visitors had brought special marzipan cakes, a north German delicacy, with pictures of Itzehoe's and Cirencester's most celebrated Churches.
For the final day, the coach took our visitors to see Gloucester Cathedral, followed by a walk around the Docks.
Our friends still had energy in the evening, so we all went to hear the 'scratch' concert in the new Baptist Church. Mozart Requiem, followed by a real English fish & chip supper!
Some of the visitors even sang in the concert, and we also met the French choir group taking part.
Cirencester Twinning Association Hosts its first Visit !
At Easter 2017, Itzehoe paid its first official visit to Cirencester since the re-formation of the CTA.
The weekend kicked off with a supper at the Parish Centre for everyone, with bilingual words of welcome from Keith Watson on behalf of the CTA, presentation of gifts by Renate on behalf of the visitors, and an official welcome from the Mayor of Cirencester, Mark Harris. The room was decorated in a suitably festive style by Jackie Gloyn and her friends.
A busy schedule, and a wonderful opportunity to get to know our twinning friends from Germany - one big family!
When they sadly left early on Tuesday morning, we realised that they hadn't been caught by the rain the whole weekend - not what they expected at all!
Cirencester Twinning Association offers a taste of Itzehoe’s Adventmarkt
The Cirencester Twinning Association brought added Adventmarkt cheer to the Cirencester Advent Festival as many members and new faces came for a warming mug of Glühwein and to browse through the current fundraising initiative: the 2017 Cirencester calendar. To watch the video of the party, click here!
Committee Member: Margaret Bryant (left)
Cirencester Market Place in full swing
Gorgous smiles from the CTA:
Left: Susannah Gilbert Right: Jo Wood
Newsletter August 2016
Update from Cirencester Twinning Association (if you don't see the newsletter below, please click the download button)