Town twinning

You may have seen notice signs by the roadside proclaiming "...twinned with..." throughout the United Kingdom. But, what is "twinning" and what is the background to this activity.

The term "twinning" means the special relationship between two communities, usually in different countries, where those communities have identified common interests and hopes.

Whilst there are many long established links between places sharing a special historical heritage, most twinning arrangements have come about since World War II when people, tired of conflict in Europe, sought to build new contacts and friendships with a view to promoting a better understanding of each other in the future.

This idea rapidly spread through Europe to become world-wide. Southampton has entered into formal twinning arrangements with:

Le Havre, France

Became a twin in 1973, Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel.

Rems-Murr-Kreis, Germany

Rems-Murr is a district (Kreis) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany and became a twin in 1991. The district was created in 1973, when the district Waiblingen was merged with most of the district Backnang and a few municipalities from the district Schwäbisch Gmünd.

Southampton also has a sister city of :

Qīngdǎo, China

Qīngdǎo (Ch'ing-tao), is a major city in eastern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders Yantai to the northeast, Weifang to the west and Rizhao to the southwest. Lying across the Shandong Peninsula looking out to the Yellow Sea, Qingdao today is a major seaport, naval base, and industrial center. It became Southampton's sister city in 1998.