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Partnership with East and West

The town twinning arrangement between Berlin and Los Angeles is an outstanding example of German-American partnership.

23.06.2015

The movie business brought Los Angeles and Berlin together. It was emigrants from Berlin’s film industry that started the friendly alliance between the two metropolises. And so the Berlin International Film Festival was the fitting backdrop for the sealing of (West) Berlin‘s town twinning arrangement with Los Angeles on June 27, 1967. Since then, ties between the two cities have become closer – and been given fresh impetus in the wake of German reunification.

In two years’ time, it will be the 50th anniversary of the alliance, an occasion set to herald a further intensification of ties. During a visit to the sister city in February 2015, Björn Böhning, head of Berlin‘s Senate Chancellery, had this to say: “Los Angeles and Berlin are linked by one of the most exciting city partnerships around. With a wealth of projects in a wide variety of areas, the partnership is already setting new standards. In the future, we want to further strengthen cooperation, especially in the startup sector and the film business.”

There is cooperation on both sides between institutions involved in art, culture, design and architecture, as well as business and 
administration. Scholarships are adverti­sed – by Berlin’s Cultural Administration, for example, in cooperation with the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Dynamic personalities are at work on both sides, and it’s thanks to their efforts that the numerous delegation visits, expert discussions and workshops take place. Rosemarie Reisch is one of them: for the past 24 years, the native of Hamburg has been working in Los Angeles as President of the Los Angeles-Berlin Sister City Committee, 
a body that is run entirely on a voluntary basis. “We bring together people from all walks of life so they can learn from one 
another,” is how she describes the import­ance of exchange.

And so alongside the cultural highlights are numerous visits and return visits by police officers and firefighters, by architects and climate experts. Even the two cities’ zoos recently agreed to exchange personnel and know-how – and their animals. A completely new element is cooperation between experts working to open up and renaturalize the riverscapes of the L.A. River and the Spree.

“Berlin is such an incredibly dynamic city, and that’s what attracts lots of young Americans. There’s a huge fascination on both sides,” says Rosemarie Reisch. And this has grown even more since 1990 – in the 
film industry, too. Previously, young American filmmakers were less interested in 
Berlin, whereas Hollywood has always attracted filmmakers from Berlin, Rosemarie Reisch recalls. “Today there’s a lively exchange between Hollywood and Berlin in the movie business.”

Other German and American cities are concluding twinning arrangements. Only recently, Frankfurt am Main and Philadelphia paved the way for cooperation. Since 
German reunification, many transatlantic partnerships have been established with German cities and regions – for example, between Leipzig and Houston or Rostock and Raleigh. There are also wide-ranging ties between the German state of Saxony and the Canadian province of Alberta. One example is the Alberta-Saxony Intercultural Internship Alliance, an exchange program for students and graduates that was launched in 2010. Many higher education institutions in Saxony and Alberta participate in the program.