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One of the ways Kaiserslautern fosters global connections is through its sister city relationships. Longstanding partnerships promote cultural exchange, mutual understanding and economic collaboration. Did you know that Kaiserslautern has two sister cities in the United States, while Kaiserslautern County has a partner county in Pennsylvania?
Davenport, Iowa, has been Kaiserslautern’s oldest sister city since 1960. They were twinned based on their close resemblance in terms of demographics, geography and economics. Around 1900 Davenport was considered the most German city in the United States, because of the strong immigration of Germans who settled in the area, mainly as farmers.
There has been active exchange of students, fire departments and individual residents of both cities. In 2018 students from a local high school participated in the worldwide “First Tech Challenge” with a group from West High School in Davenport. A fountain in Kaiserslautern is dedicated to Davenport, while a square in Davenport was named after Kaiserslautern.
In 2000 Columbia, South Carolina, became Kaiserslautern’s second twin city. According to a news release in Columbia, the partnership is filled with flourishing art and exchange. In 2019 the partnership was celebrated with a series “Wunderbar Together” events with artists from both cities jointly creating works of art.
In addition, the County of Kaiserslautern has enjoyed a strong partnership with Lancaster County in Pennsylvania since 1962. Singing societies and music groups, in addition to visits from official delegations, have brought life into the partnership for over six decades. According to the Institut für Pfälzische Geschichte und Volkskunde, Institute for Palatinate History and Ethnology, in Kaiserslautern about 300,000 Palatinates emigrated from the region from 1650 onwards. An estimated 100,000, mainly in Pennsylvania and Ohio, still speak a variation of the local Pfälzisch dialect today.
Kaiserslautern has a number of further sister cities around the world: Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Douzy in France, Saint-Quentin also in France, Newham/London in the United Kingdom, Guimarães in Portugal, Pleven in Bulgaria and Bunkyo-ku in Japan.
Many other cities in Rheinland-Pfalz share close ties and partnerships with communities throughout the United States. Our state capital Mainz is twinned with Louisville, Kentucky, Trier with Fort Worth, Texas, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse with Manchester, New Hampshire, and Worms with Mobile, Alabama.
German soldiers from the Zweibrücken area fought in the battle of Yorktown, Virginia, during the War of Independence, evolving into a close city partnership since 1978.
Ludwigshafen/Rhein has a strong partnership with Pasadena, California, and Prüm (Eifel) with Fort Madison, Iowa. In addition, the small community of Altrip is sistered with Kutztown, Pennsylvania, which is best known for its annual Palatinate-style festival. Koblenz along the Rhein River is sistered to Austin, Texas, along the Colorado River.
Smaller cities in the area are also eager to promote and strengthen relations, such as Bitburg and Shelbyville, Kentucky, Baumholder is paired with Delaware, Ohio, and the small community of Grünstadt has a partnership with Bonita Springs, Florida.
Not only cities in Rheinland-Pfalz maintain partnerships and exchange with American cities. Los Angeles, California, is the big sister to Berlin, and Chicago, Illinois, to Hamburg, both having extensive water and considered major maritime hubs.
Cincinnati, Ohio, is linked to Munich and Indianapolis, Indiana, to Cologne, while Saint Louis, Missouri, shares a partnership with Stuttgart. Houston, Texas, and Leipzig in the state of Sachsen are also sister cities.
While similarities may not always be apparent, some pairings are rather evident at first sight. San Francisco, California, and Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein in the north are both located at large bays along the sea. Walldorf in Baden-Württemberg has two sister cities, both Waldorf, Maryland, and Astoria, Oregon. Does this ring a porter’s bell?
Dresden’s sister city Columbus, Ohio, built by German settlers, has many popular eateries such as Schmidt’s Sausage Haus and beer halls in a German style village. Bremerhaven, the largest emigrant port in Germany during the 19th and early 20th centuries, is paired with Baltimore, Maryland, also a harbor city. Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Aspen, Colorado, are both known for winter sports and a flourishing night life during the season.
In Bavaria, Ansbach is paired with Bay City, Michigan, Nürnberg with Atlanta, Georgia, and Augsburg with Dayton, Ohio.
Many early immigrants founded communities and often named them after their hometowns. Examples are New Braunfels, Texas, and Braunfels, Hessen, New Ulm, Minnesota, and Ulm, in Bavaria, respectively Neu-Ulm in Baden-Württemberg. New Melle, Missouri, was named after Melle in Niedersachsen and later became sister cities. And, Zell, Missouri, is partnered with Zell-Weierbach in Baden-Württemberg.
In addition, there are countless cities named after German ones, such as Hamburg, Heidelberg, Frankfurt/Frankfort and more throughout the nation, with Berlin being the most popular name.
Germany has over 200 sister cities in the United States. If your hometown was not mentioned and you would like to discover more, see a full list of cities at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_deutsch-amerikanischer_Städtepartnerschaften
This might inspire you to grab the opportunity during your stay in the KMC to visit and explore a sister city you may not have known about.
Last, but not least, New York City does not have a German partner city, but like German settlers, Dutch founders originally named their city “Niew Amsterdam” in 1626. After it came under English rule it was renamed New York. In an effort to promote tourism, in 2013 New York City and Amsterdam announced a city-to-city partnership and a new “sister” was born!
