Dortmund, twin towns and sister cities

Clankylad · Post by **Clankylad** » Tue 03 Jun, 2008 1:35 pm

Pretty much everyone knows that Leeds is twinned with Dortmund and the statue of the drayman in Dortmund Square is a familiar sight. However, according to Wikipedia, Leeds is also twinned with, or a ‘sister city’ to these other places:Brno, Czech RepublicColombo, Sri LankaDurban, South AfricaHangzhou, ChinaLille, FranceLouisville, Kentucky (United States)Siegen, GermanyHave any of these cities given Leeds a gift like the Dortmund drayman? Did Leeds give a reciprocal gift to Dortmund, and if so has anyone seen it?Lat of all, anyone remember the time there was an RAF 'Jaguar' aircraft in the square (presumably to aid recruitment)? Anyone got a pic?

leedslily · Post by **leedslily** » Tue 03 Jun, 2008 1:46 pm

I went to Dortmund years ago with a group from Leeds CND, and we were taken to 'Leeds Square' - if I remember rightly, it was in a slightly dodgy part of town, and had a red English phonebox as its centrepiece - presumably the gift from Leeds!I've also been to Siegen (again with CND, back in the 80s when there were lots of peace initiatives going on between the various twin towns) - it's actually twinned with Morley, but was added to Leeds' twins when Morley effectively became part of Leeds. I don't remember there being any particular Leeds-oriented statue or item there, but it was a nice friendly place and we were very warmly welcomed - even had an official reception with the mayor!Farther afield, I think Leeds also used to be twinned with Ulan Bator in Mongolia.

Si · Post by Si » Tue 03 Jun, 2008 2:45 pm

I've heard of Leeds Square in Dortmund, too Lilysmum. I also remember reading about Ulan Bator being twinned with Leeds somewhere. What has Leeds got in common with Ulan Bator? I also read that Leeds was/is twinned with more cities abroad than anywhere else in Britain. Anyone know if this is true? I assume this happened more on political solidarity lines than any real social/cultural/industrial similarities. Or, with my cynical hat on, does it just mean more free trips to foreign climes for our local politicos.....?

wiggy · Post by **wiggy** » Tue 03 Jun, 2008 9:06 pm

i knew about lille,its very similar in some ways...northern industrial town(well it used to be similar!)

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Tue 03 Jun, 2008 9:23 pm

leedslily wrote: I've also been to Siegen (again with CND, back in the 80s when there were lots of peace initiatives going on between the various twin towns) - it's actually twinned with Morley, On the remaining Morley boundary signs it says Twinned with Seigen. There used to be a Seigen Circle in Morley concerned with links to the German town, there is also an old people's home called Seigen Manor, and a Seigen Close.

String o' beads · Post by **String o' beads** » Tue 03 Jun, 2008 11:13 pm

I remember being in the Piccadilly Bar [under age *cough*] early seventies and there was a delegation from Dortmund at the next table. After a few Skols I ventured a little chat in my schoolgirl German. One chap, about 50 years old I suppose, invited me to his room at the Dragonara. I remember to this day the words he said, 'It will be a foretaste of paradise.' Dirty old git. Yeah right Fritz. Guten nacht.

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Wed 04 Jun, 2008 9:22 am

GEORDIE EXILE WROTE : -"Yeah right Fritz. Guten nacht. "That's got me chuckling for the day Hinnie - keep 'em coming !!On a more serious note, and over to La France, a Leeds City Transport bus was once sent to Lille in 1968 to reinforce the Twin Town movement, and carried a plaque to say so for the rest of its days. Another older bus was presented to the Lille Transport Museum in 1977 and is no doubt still on display there.

leedslily · Post by **leedslily** » Thu 05 Jun, 2008 1:54 pm

Found an old photo of 'Platz von Leeds' in Dortmund, with the red phonebox. It's from 1986, and really dark, so not sure how it will look on here, but here goes anyway ...

Barwicker · Post by **Barwicker** » Thu 05 Jun, 2008 8:46 pm

On at least two occasions I have queried with the Council why, when we are twinned with Dortmund, the stalls at the Christkindlmarkt are claimed to come from Frankfurt/Main. Just about every German town of note has a Christmas Market and I am sure the traders of Dortmund would welcome the chance to come to Leeds for a short while and it is a major brewing centre!!I say "claimed to come from Frankfurt" as only an odd couple of stalls actually come from there. The stalls come from all over Germany and to the best of my recollection the "Beer" hall was from somewhere in Bavaria. I think it would be fairer to say that the organiser is based in Frankfurt.

jonleeds · Post by **jonleeds** » Sun 29 Jun, 2008 5:12 am

I went to Dortmund on a student exchange from Kitson College (now Leeds College of Technology) in the early 90's. Dortmund is a great city and was and probably still is years ahead of Leeds in its design. They had the ubiquitous tram system and a massive underground car parking system. There was also to our glee a red light district where the girls were very friendly to us young and curious English boys!There are several major breweries in and around Dortmund which produce world class lagers, I think this could be one of the reasons that Leeds is twinned with Dortmund because of this shared brewing heritage. I remember we went on a tour of the Warsteiner brewery where we were given a free dinner which included soup and sausages and free beer tokens - as we were all only 16 years old these were particularly welcome, plus the legal age for drinking in Germany is only 16 so the lecturers could say nothing! I would definately recommend trying Warsteiner pilsner lager to any lovers of lager, its one of the cleanest most refreshing tasting beers I have ever drank, I last drank some in the Beehive pub in Bradford and it had travelled well so its definately worth trying. I also saw they were selling party-type 'kegs' of Warsteiner in Netto's over the Xmas period, they might still have it! Anyway all the week we were in Dortmund we were treated like royalty everywhere we went and it was a credit to the German people and their hospitality how well they looked after us. It was amazing as 16 year old students to be sat in posh bars drinking delicious pilsner lager with a massive foamy head on it from what looked like brandy glasses and smoking cigars having rounds after round bought for us by the local dignitaries. If you are ever in Germany its definately worth checking out even if its just out of interest and I'm sure if you mention you are from Leeds you will get a particularly warm welcome wherever you go. Fond memories indeed!