The Mayor of Hertford, delegates from Hertford Town Council and representatives from town twinning associations, recently (29th May - 1st June 2025) visited Wildeshausen - to celebrate the longstanding friendship between Hertford, Wildeshausen and Évron. The visit celebrated the 30th anniversary of Hertford's town twinning with Wildeshausen, in Germany and the 45th anniversary of Hertford’s twinning with Évron, in France.
Hertford Town Councillors, being ever committed to environmental sustainability, took the entire journey by train. Once at the town hall in Wildeshausen, a joint declaration of friendship was signed by the three mayors, Cllr Steven Watson (Hertford), Joel Balandraud (Évron) and Jens Kuraschinski (Wildeshausen); this included an entry in Wildeshausen’s ‘Golden Book’. The renewal of this long-term partnership reinforces the mutual commitment to understanding and co-operation across the three towns.
Wooden memorial plaques in Wildeshausen’s town hall were unveiled and gifts were exchanged; each town received a wooden carving featuring their own coat of arms and those of the other towns.
After the official ceremony, the programme continued with a screening of a film by Uwe Leinemann, made during anniversary celebrations hosted by Hertford in 2005. Following this, live music in the marketplace saw something for everyone, including the Wildeshausen brass band and ‘Harmonie Municipale d'Évron’. Chris Sims and his band from Hertford, gave the concert some English flavour.
The Mayor of Hertford, Councillor Steven Watson, commented: “Meeting our counterparts and friends in Wildeshausen has been the ideal way to kick off my Mayoral year. This visit was a wonderful opportunity to strengthen the ties between all our twin towns and build upon our friendship and the freedom that we all enjoy. My thanks to the societies across all three towns, who work so diligently to keep these vital cultural ties alive”.
Hertford Town Council hosted guests from Wildeshausen and the Friends of Wildeshausen, last October, at Hertford Castle. The Friends of Wildeshausen was established in 1993, prior to Hertford’s twinning with Wildeshausen, in the Oldenburg district of Lower Saxony, North Germany, in 1995. Town twinning aims to foster understanding between communities, by encouraging friendships and organising exchanges and activities. Further information can be found at: www.friendsofwildeshausen.org
Hertford and Évron twinned in 1980. The Friends of Évron maintain the link with Évron and hosted visitors from the town in April last year. Évron is located in the Mayenne district of France between southern Normandy and the Loire valley and is not far from Le Mans, Tours and Laval. Like Hertford, Évron has ancient links to the past with a recently renovated medieval basilica which acts as the town’s main church, parts of this building date back to the 10th Century. Further information can be found at: www.evron.fr or on social media at Friends of Evron.
Notes:
To find out more about Hertford’s twin towns, please see: www.hertford.gov.uk/town-twinning
For more information on the Mayor of Hertford please see: www.hertford.gov.uk/the-mayor-of-hertford