Successful visit to Twin Town of Ochsenfurt
Members of the Wimborne-Ochsenfurt Twinning Association have just returned from a successful visit to Wimborne Minster’s Twin Town of Ochsenfurt in Bavaria
Amongst those making the trip were the Mayor Cllr. Anthony Oliver and five former Mayors, Denis and Margery Ryan, Ann Roberts, Pat Hymers and Diann March.
Seeds were first sown (or re-sown) for a twinning between the two towns in 1985 when Denis Ryan was Mayor. Margery Ryan was Mayor when the Twinning Charter was signed in 1989 and Diann March, Mayor when the Association celebrated its 10th Anniversary in 1999. Throughout this time Peter Wesselowsky has been the Burgermeister (Mayor) of Ochsenfurt. He took office in 1984 but retires (on age grounds) in the Spring of 2008.
To mark the close association between the twin towns and indeed the two councils current Mayor Anthony Oliver, speaking at the Civic Reception given by Peter Wesselowsky in the Rathaus (Town Hall) referred to this association since the twinning began and hoped it would continue with Peter Wesselowskys successor and indeed for many years to come. After all the twinning could be said to have started as far back as AD740 when Thekla, one of the nuns trained at the Minster left Wimborne to join Boniface (from Crediton) to evangelise Germany, setting up her convent in Ochsenfurt…the longest Twinning in existence perhaps?
The Mayor on behalf of the Town Council presented the Burgermeister with one of the special Alison Board Prints, which were commissioned to celebrate the Minster’s 1300th Anniversary in 2005. The Burgermeister presented the Mayor with a framed print of Saint Elisabeth, born 800 years ago, and famed for founding their hospital.