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Weil Am Rhein honour two retiring members from their committee

Tonio Passlick • Dec 04, 2023

Brigitte Wittkaemper and Heinz Meindel retire

On November 15th two long time members have left the board - they have been honoured by Klaus Geese and Tonio Passlick for 36 years (Brigitte Wittkaemper) being vice president or in other functions and 18 years (Heinz Meindel) as member of the board of the twinning association Weil am Rhein. In the background from left Andrea Kuntzmann, Hans-Jürgen Friedrich and Klaus Geese.

Zwei Vorstandsmitglieder der ersten Stunden wurden am Mittwochabend im Rahmen einer Vorstandssitzung des Vereins zur Förderung und Pflege von Städtepartnerschaften Weil am Rhein verabschiedet: Brigitte Wittkämper nach 36 Jahren und Heinz Meindel nach 18 Jahren im Vorstand. Der stellvertretende Vorsitzende Klaus Geese und Gründungsmitglied Tonio Paßlick würdigten in Vertretung des erkrankten Vorsitzenden Christian Leitherer die Verdienste der beiden inzwischen aus dem Vorstand ausgeschiedenen und nach wie vor engagierten Mitglieder mit Geschenkkörben und einer wertschätzenden Rückschau.


We said farewell to two log standing board members on Wednesday evening at a board meeting of the association for the promotion and maintenance of town twinning in Weil am Rhein: Brigitte Wittkämper after 36 years and Heinz Meindel after 18 years on the board. The deputy chairman Klaus Geese and founding member Tonio Paßlick, representing the Christian Leitherer Chairman who was unwell, honoured the achievements of the two members, who have since left the board and are still committed, with gift baskets and an appreciative review.


Wie der Verein entstand

Paßlick schilderte als Zeitzeuge die Hintergründe für die Entstehung des Vereins. Im Herbst des Jahres 1986 habe er in geheimer Mission und im Auftrag von Oberbürgermeister Peter Willmann mit dem damaligen Vorstand des Vereins in Bognor Regis einen Termin im Frühjahr 1987 ausgehandelt und dafür zugesagt, dass in Weil am Rhein umgehend ein Verein gegründet würde. Für Bognor Regis war dies eine Voraussetzung für die Städte-Partnerschaft. Zuvor hatte die „Twinning Association“ in Bognor Regis auf dieser Basis bereits eine offizielle Verbindung mit Saint-Maur-des-Fossés bei Paris.


How the club came about

As a contemporary witness, Paßlick described the background to the creation of the club. In the autumn of 1986, on a secret mission and on behalf of Mayor Peter Willmann, he negotiated a date in the spring of 1987 with the then board of the association in Bognor Regis and promised that an association would be founded immediately in Weil am Rhein. For Bognor Regis this was a prerequisite for the town twinning. The “Twinning Association” in Bognor Regis previously had an official connection with Saint-Maur-des-Fossés near Paris on this basis.


Gastgeber organisiert

Als der ehemalige Stadtjugendpfleger Peter Blaschguda bei der Vereinsgründung am 5. Februar 1987 dann Vorsitzender wurde, übernahm Brigitte Wittkämper das Amt der Schriftführerin und behielt es 15 Jahre lang. Auf Blaschguda folgte 1993 Renata Buck. Mit Tonio Paßlick als Vorsitzendem im Jahr 2000 wurde Wittkämper stellvertretende Vorsitzende. Das Amt behielt sie 16 Jahre lang. Als dann 2017 Christian Leitherer den Vorsitz übernahm und Klaus Geese Stellvertreter wurde, übernahm Wittkämper als Beisitzerin immer noch sehr wichtige Aufgaben, wie Paßlick in seiner Würdigung betonte. Denn sie hatte 36 Jahre lang dafür gesorgt, dass die rund 50 Gäste bei den Treffen in Weil am Rhein alle drei Jahre auch von privaten Gastgebern aufgenommen wurden.


Host organized

When the former city youth worker Peter Blaschguda became chairman when the club was founded on February 5, 1987, Brigitte Wittkämper took over the office of secretary and kept it for 15 years. Blaschguda was followed by Renata Buck in 1993. With Tonio Paßlick as chairman in 2000, Wittkämper became deputy chairman. She held the position for 16 years. When Christian Leitherer took over the chairmanship in 2017 and Klaus Geese became deputy, Wittkämper still took on very important tasks as an assessor, as Paßlick emphasized in his appreciation. For 36 years, she had ensured that the around 50 guests at the meetings in Weil am Rhein were also hosted by private hosts every three years.


Darüber hinaus fragte sie auch die Gastgeber für die Delegation aus Trebbin beim Altweiler Straßenfest an. Für die Trebbiner war sie zudem seit der offiziellen Städtepartnerschaft mit Weil am Rhein 1990 Ansprechpartnerin für alle organisatorischen Fragen. Sie sei damit immer das verlässliche und unverzichtbare Rückgrat der offiziellen Begegnungen gewesen, sagte Paßlick. Inzwischen hat Andrea Kuntzmann diese Aufgaben übernommen.

 

Aktiv bei der „Table Ronde“

Heinz Meindel war als Gründungsmitglied seit 2005 Schriftführer und bekleidete dieses Amt bis 2023, als im August bedingt durch die Pandemie drei Mitgliederversammlungen zusammenfasst worden waren. Paßlick würdigte die verlässliche und schnelle Erledigung aller protokollarischen Tätigkeiten und sein Engagement in verschiedenen Bereichen. Er war unter anderem aktiv engagiert beim „Table Ronde“, einer Gruppe von Hüninger und Weiler Bürgern, die sich mit den Beziehungen zwischen Huningue und Weil am Rhein befassten. Meindel war auch bei vielen Reisen nach Trebbin und Bognor Regis beteiligt und Gastgeber für viele Freunde aus den Partnerstädten.


Active at the “Table Ronde”

As a founding member, Heinz Meindel was secretary since 2005 and held this office until 2023, when three general meetings were held in August due to the pandemic. Paßlick praised the reliable and quick completion of all protocol activities and his commitment in various areas. Among other things, he was actively involved in the “Table Ronde”, a group of Hüninger and Weiler citizens who dealt with the relationships between Huningue and Weil am Rhein. Meindel was also involved in many trips to Trebbin and Bognor Regis and hosted many friends from the twin towns.








 

Spring Ramble

By David Roche • 20 May, 2024
On Saturday May 18 th 13 BRTA members walked 4 and a half miles from outside the Ship Inn Itchenor along the harbour coastal path to West Wittering and then back to Itchenor cross country. The weather forecast was for light rain but there was only one rain shower during the walk and the sun came out towards the end. The walkers then enjoyed a good lunch at The Ship Inn Itchenor before going home.

St Maur-des-Fossés exchange visit – 2024

By Maralyn Green • 19 May, 2024
Twenty adults from Bognor recently enjoyed a very successful French exchange visit to Bognor’s twin town of St Maur-des-Fossés, near Paris. Travelling by Eurostar to Paris and then by RER to the nearby town of St Maur-des-Fossés, guests were welcomed by their individual hosts into their homes for the duration of the visit. Not everyone could speak French but, as many of the hosts spoke good English, careful placement meant everyone felt relaxed and happy during their stay. A programme for the visit, organised by Les Amis de Bognor Regis, included an outing to the Chateau de Vincennes, a former fortress and royal residence, with a talk given on the history of the castle. Guests also had the opportunity to visit the Abbaye de Saint-Maur, an old monastery, which is mostly in ruins, but a guided tour took visitors into the cellar and underground passageways not usually open to the public. It wasn’t all monuments as St Maur-des-Fossés is the town in Ile-de-France with the largest number of food markets and a visit to one of these, a regular shopping venue for locals, was also on the programme. All have a huge range of high quality, fresh food products, with the market at La Varenne being the first to have over 100 traders. A veritable feast for the eyes and enough to make one very hungry! There were also opportunities for visiting Paris, where the ongoing reconstruction of the burnt-out cathedral of Notre Dame could be seen. After a devastating fire in 2019, during which the roof and spire collapsed, the historic renovation of Notre Dame is now nearly 90% complete but at an estimated cost of 700 million Euros. Preparations for the 2024 Olympics, to be held this August in Paris, were also well underway and visible throughout the city centre. Riverboat trips down the Seine, walking through Les Tuileries, the Ile de Paris, the South Bank, visiting the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides (Napoleon’s tomb), Les Halles, Galeries Lafayette, were all places visited by some of us on our city excursions. On the last evening in St Maur-des-Fossés, the local association of Les Amis de Bognor Regis treated all 20 visitors from Bognor, with their French hosts, to a sumptuous three course meal in a local restaurant. Speeches from each side were made and thanks given to those who had helped make this exchange visit such a success, after a hiatus of several years, when the exchange visits had to be suspended due to Covid. Special thanks are owed to Mr. John Russell, whose tireless efforts for more than a year, on behalf of the Bognor Regis Twinning Association, resulted in a very successful visit. It is hoped that this very enjoyable visit will now form the basis for the return of regular annual exchanges and that friendships, old and new, that have been reinforced or begun, will continue the long-standing connections between our twin towns. 

D-Day 80 Years On - Talk by Dave Smith

By Maralyn Green • 19 May, 2024
D-Day 80 Years On D-Day 80 Years On was the subject of a very detailed talk, given recently by popular historian, Dave Smith. Planning for D-Day actually took place not far from Bognor and very close to Portsmouth. It was at Southwick House, which stands on the northern slopes of Portsdown Hill, where the preparations for Operation Overlord were laid. It was there that General Dwight Eishenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, took the decision to launch the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944. You can still visit the house and see the Map Room but have to make an appointment to do so. The date of 6 June was chosen because it fulfilled the requirements necessary for the beach landings. The weather forecast was good, there would be a full moon and, importantly, a half tide. Originally 2 other dates were considered, 5 June and 19 June. 5 June was discounted because of the bad weather forecast for the day before and 19 June was deemed too late. Several million men, tanks, landing craft, etc., were waiting secretly, in multiple locations, across the South Coast of England and there was a very real risk that waiting too long might lead to discovery. So, the date of 6 June became the date of D Day. This was fortunate as the weather turned out to be appalling on 19 June. Dave Smith asked the audience what the D stood for in D Day. The answer was that it stands for Day. Apparently there were many D Days (Day Days), a name for the beginning of Operations during the War, but 6 June is the only one remembered by everyone. Much effort had gone into covering up the true destination of D Day. Double agents fed wrong information back to Germany about possible invasions at Calais in July or even on the Norway coast. Inflatable tanks, trucks, airplanes and landing craft had been placed as decoys, even as far North as Scotland, to deceive reconnaissance aircraft. Decoy dummy paratroopers, known as Ruperts, were also dropped at 4 different locations on the morning of 6 June to lure the Germans away from the beaches of Normandy. The dummies self-destructed on landing. These were just a few facts from Dave Smith’s presentation as his enthusiasm for his subject gave us many further insights into the planning before the invasion, the intricate detail of the invasion itself and what must have been a logistical nightmare to get everyone and everything to where it was needed before, during and in the days after the invasion. Dave Smith also recounted stories of a few of the soldiers, who had been part of D Day, as well as the personality clashes between some of the leading organisers of Operation Overlord. Roll on next year for another of Dave’s brilliant talks!
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