The city partnership between Wolfratshausen and Barbezieux has existed for 50 years. A double interview on the anniversary of Franco-German friendship and concerns about young people.
Wolfratshausen - "Bon anniversaire!" In 1970 Wolfratshausen and Barbezieux in western France entered into a town partnership. Even today, 50 years later, there are friendly ties between the 5000-person community and Loisachstadt. On the anniversary of the friendship - before the corona pandemic began - our employee Dominik Stallein met the chairman of the partnership association Rainer Kebekus and the co-founder and long-time chairman Irmgard Thalhammer. In conversation, the two report on the difficult search for young people, insights into the soul of another nation and personal friendships that last a lifetime.
Ms. Thalhammer, Mr. Kebekus, the partnership between Barbezieux and Wolfratshausen has existed for 50 years. Do you actually notice anything in Loisachstadt?
Thalhammer : Of course, there are some things in the cityscape that remind us of that. A sculpture from Barbezieux has stood in the Japanese garden since 2003. On the roof of the city library you can find a weathercock, a gift from France. For a while there was also a signpost that showed the distance to the twin city, but which has long been lost.
Kebekus : This idea came up recently: When the west bank of the Loisach is redesigned, signposts to all partner cities should be attached there.
Thalhammer : There are also a few gifts from our friends in the town hall, for example the miniature of a historic cognac distiller. Barbezieux-Straße must of course also be mentioned.
How does it look in everyday life - can you feel this friendship?
Kebekus : Maybe not necessarily in everyday life. But with our association we support trips to schools from France, specifically from the Ickinger Gymnasium and the Montessori School Biberkor.
Thalhammer : It used to be more pronounced. The pupils from the Waldram middle school visited Barbezieux, even a Wolfratshausen football team was there to train. We also had French interns in various institutions and companies in Wolfratshausen. But that was a few years ago. The enthusiasm was even greater.
Young people in particular are no longer particularly enthusiastic about the offers of the partnership association ...
Thalhammer : ... because we simply have different times than 15 or 20 years ago. The world is open to young people today. It is nothing special that Germany and France are friends. We now live in a Europe without borders. And visiting distant countries is no longer a problem.
Kebekus : That's right. Young people and young adults are no longer dependent on club offers if they want to see something of the world. Nevertheless, there are ideas that we want to put into practice.
For example?
Kebekus : I would very much like to start a youth exchange again. Independent of school exchange trips, I could imagine a group of young people traveling from Wolfratshausen to Barbezieux - and vice versa. If you look at the fact that this is regularly possible even after Iruma (Wolfratshausen's twin city in Japan), I am sure that this can also be achieved after France.
Thalhammer : Iruma trips are also very much controlled and promoted by the city.
Read also: This is how the town twinning between Wolfratshausen and Iruma came about
Is that different in your case?
Kebekus : We miss this interest, yes. We rarely see city councilors at our events. When I look at how many councilors from Geretsried are there each time a trip to Chamalières is planned (French twin town Geretsried; editor's note), you can almost get jealous. And yet we have to at least try to organize campaigns and trips for all Wolfratshausers. There is - for example, a request from a Waldramer teacher - that young Wolfratshausers are still interested in getting to know Barbezieux ...
... what could bring new members to the association?
Kebekus : That is hope, of course. But even in the past, the participants of such trips have not been active in the club afterwards. I have the feeling that fundamentally fewer and fewer people want to get involved in a club. Some may be afraid to make a supposed commitment. There is a certain convenience.
So there are few new registrations?
Kebekus : Right. I am 66 years old - and I am among the youngest third of the members. Nobody in the club is under 45 years old.
Thalhammer : As I said: the boys don't want to commit themselves, they just don't want to be a member anywhere. But this is not a pure Wolfratshauser phenomenon. Many other clubs are exactly the same as we are, there is aging as well elsewhere. What can be attested to our 89 members - especially those in old age - in any case: They have been loyal to our association for a very long time. We would not have existed for a long time without them.
A Europe of open borders and a Franco-German friendship is now normal - are clubs like yours still needed?
Kebekus : It would be interesting to find out whether such clubs have even been founded in recent years. So the question is justified.
Thalhammer : Nowadays you can easily go on holiday all over Europe, lie on the beach, take pictures of the Eiffel Tower and you know that the politicians of the two countries are working together. But I don't think that's why you know the people, traditions, customs or identity of the other country. You can only get a close look at regular visits, from which friendships develop, as happens in our club. There is a wonderful anecdote.
Please tell ...
Thalhammer : My husband didn't speak a word of French and when we first traveled to Barbezieux, we really wanted to go to a hotel. He was afraid that he would not be able to communicate with a host family. We still stayed with a family - and this friendship has continued to this day and is omnipresent.
Is it these personal experiences that make up the Franco-German friendship?
Thalhammer : That is a very important part. For me, the partnership association means decades of friendship. When I come to France and walk through the city, I meet almost as many people I know in Wolfratshausen. It is a second home.
Kebekus : I feel the same way. When I visit the annual fair in Barbezieux, there is always a big reunion. I now know someone on every corner.
Thalhammer : And these friendships go far beyond regular visits. You have private contact. In difficult life situations, the huge sympathy and the many offers of help - even from over 1,000 kilometers away - are overwhelming.