Days out in Berlin, Potsdam area and Thyrow in Germany were all part of an excellent programme arranged for members of the Bognor Regis Town Twinning Association on a recent visit to Bognor’s twin town of Trebbin, near Berlin.  17 adults along with 2 students, who were part funded by Bognor Town Council, represented Bognor Regis and spent 6 days in Trebbin, staying with host families.  Bognor members stayed either with hosts they already knew or, if taking part for the first time, were welcomed by new friends.

The first full day visit, arranged by the Trebbin Town Council, was centred around the village of Thyrow and took in a very interesting tour of an experimental farm, operational since the 1930s and respected internationally.  This was followed by a delightful buffet lunch in the courtyard of the local community centre, as well as a later visit to the Marksich Wilmersdorff listed estate of sculpture collector Herr Vanni, led by the Trebbin Mayor.  The day finished with an evening reception and extensive buffet meal laid on for the visitors by the Trebbin Town Council at the local Naturpark.  Ray Hagger read out a letter from Bognor Mayor, Councillor Paul Ralph, along with speeches made by the Mayors of the other Twin Towns, who always attend these visits.

On the second day the group were taken on a tour of the Albert Einstein Science Park near Potsdam.  Visitors were given a tour, top to basement, of the Einstein Tower, an astrophysical observatory that was built to Einstein’s design in order to perform checks of his theory of General Relativity.  This was followed by a hands-on visit to the Great Refractor, an historic astronomical telescope housed in a splendid observatory, established in the 1870s.  After a substantial lunch, the group then visited the small town of Caputh with its chain ferry, riverside walks and parks, and favoured by Albert Einstein as the location for  his summerhouse.

On another day, a visit to Berlin included a visit to the new and extremely interactive Museum of German History, as Bognor guests progressed from rooms full of the ancient woodland of pre-German lands through time to, eventually, modern day Berlin.   Later a wide-ranging guided tour of the impressive German Parliament (Reichstag) was also arranged, including sitting in the debating chamber and views of the city from it’s glass domed roof.   The evening concluded with another grand buffet dinner in Trebbin with entertainment and a slide selection of photos taken over the 40 years of the twinning connection.

The final day was a free day arranged by the individual host families and ended with music in Trebbin’s main park, with food and drink available as well as dancing, if you felt like doing so.

It was another very enjoyable and educational stay in one of Bognor’s twin towns and a tribute to the strong links that have continued for over 40 years between Bognor Regis and its twin towns in both Germany and France.