Cary Visits Germany

This past August, a delegation from Cary visited Wiesbaden, Germany, as one of the steps to further a sister city relationship with them. Our delegation was composed of Cary’s mayor, Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, Jr., Councilwoman Michelle Craig, and representatives from Cary Sister Cities (CSC). Establishing such a relationship requires a lot of time and dedication on both ends. Cary Sister Cities, like all chapters of Sister Cities International, believes in its founder’s– President Eisenhower’s– message: promoting world peace through citizen diplomacy. By establishing sister cities such as Wiesbaden, CSC would be able to carry out student exchanges and other cultural events with its German counterpart.

Wiesbaden and Surrounding Towns

The initial part of the trip allowed our delegation to explore Germany and the areas around Wiesbaden and along the Rhine river. They visited the farmer’s market, which occurs daily near a lovely church. They also had the chance to go into a store, where they saw an interesting product for sale: a conical piece of paper. In Germany, on the first day of first grade, kids are given these pieces of paper full of candy to get them excited about the school year. 

Later that day, the delegation visited an opera house. Nearby, there was a train that worked in an unconventional way. This train, the Nerobergbahn, was a train with two cars (one uphill and one downhill). Water is pumped into the lower car until it becomes heavier than the top car, which allows gravity to move the uphill car forward. It was originally built to avoid the use of electricity. 

They ate lunch at a restaurant in a vineyard on a hill, which offered many types of wine for the delegates to taste. The restaurant itself also overlooked Wiesbaden, allowing a beautiful vista of the city from above. Vineyards are a common sight around Wiesbaden and other towns along the Rhine.

After lunch, the delegation toured a UNESCO World Heritage site, admiring the Niederwalddenkmal, a statue built in the late 1800s to celebrate the unification of Germany. The statue depicted a woman holding the Imperial Crown and Sword and looking towards the Rhine river and Germany, illustrating her national pride and patriotism for the country. 

One reason why Cary wants to have a sister city relationship with Wiesbaden is that the latter has a U.S. military base, so it would make sense for it to have a partnership with an American city. Our delegation was able to visit this American base, where a historian explained the history of U.S. forces in the city and showcased a piece of the Berlin Wall. 

Later on, they went to see an Orthodox Church that Kaiser Wilhelm II built in honor of his late wife. They also passed the Wiesbaden Sister City table, which had information about all of Wiesbaden’s partnered cities. Cary soon hopes to join that table.

Schultüte or "school cone"

Diplomatic Encounters 

The delegation met with Wiesbaden’s mayor, Oberbürgermeister Gert-Uwe Mende, as he and Cary’s Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, Jr. exchanged speeches and gifts. The evening concluded with a lovely dinner where both mayors emphasized the significance of cross-cultural partnership and sisterhood between cities. 

Cary’s delegation was also taken to the local Wiesbaden high school, Elly-Heuss Schule. This was an especially significant part of the visit, as the delegates were able to see an ordinary place that regular citizens go to daily, which is just as important as the government buildings where politicians work. At the high school, they met the principal, who was very kind to them. 

After that, they went to City Hall, where they were able to meet with city representatives and see the similarities between Wiesbaden and Cary. They also saw the Hessen State Parliament (Hessen is the state that Wiesbaden is capital of). The parliament building was beautiful, with a modern government building leading into an antique castle with lovely architecture. Additionally, they went to a reception with the head of city council and met with members of the city council representing four of the major German parties. 

Cultural Events

Wiesbaden means “meadow spa” in German. The “spa” part is due to the abundance of spa water; it contains over 26 natural springs. Our delegates tasted some of it and reported that it did not taste great, most likely due to the high salt concentration.

The “meadow” part of the name likely comes from the abundance of vineyards and green spaces. The mayor helped our delegation understand the importance of wine to Wiesbaden by inviting them to open the wine festival with him. At this event, every vineyard in the area participated by selling their wine.

Our delegates were picked up by firefighters to visit the Wiesbaden fire station. This was very interesting, as it allowed them to see the similarities and differences between an American and German fire station. The firefighters gave them a tour of the building as well as demonstrations of the procedures they needed to follow when performing their rescues.

They replicated examples of scenarios that they had to practice. Some of the delegates even got to go down the pole at the fire station! The day they visited was also, coincidentally, fire day– a day when German kids got to learn about how firefighters work, so some kids were touring the station with our delegates. To commemorate the occasion, the firefighters gave the Cary delegation a fireman patch. 

Finally, the delegation was taken to see an American football game on a German field. This brought the two cultures together, as Germans were able to experience American culture while still being in their own country. Previously, CSC hosted a German delegation at a soccer match in Cary, so this was a similar experience. The match took place on part of an old military base. The delegates got to meet with the manager and owner of the team and were given t-shirts as mementos. 

Our mayor, councilmember, and other delegates were extremely happy to partake in this exchange. In their time in Wiesbaden, they were able to meet so many amazing people and see incredible places. Their trip was truly fantastic and fostered even more cooperation between these two lovely cities. 

Tom Herndon, a CSC board member and delegate on the trip explained it best -

“Our trip to Wiesbaden was absolutely amazing. We met our counterparts who showed us their amazing city and surrounding areas. They told us about the history of Wiesbaden going back to the Roman Times and shared stories of their beloved city. Their hospitality went beyond anything we could have expected. Each and every minute of our trip was carefully coordinated between their team making sure each of them spent time with us.We learned so much about Wiesbaden but the most memorable part was how each of them loved Wiesbaden"