Ochsenfurt

Ochsenfurt is Wimborne’s twin Town in Germany. It is situated south of Würzburg, roughly halfway between Frankfurt and Nurnberg, and stands on the River Main, a navigable tributary of the Rhine. This area of northern Bavaria is famed for its beers and white wines.

The region has had a connection with Wimborne since 740 A.D. when nuns from the powerful monastery in Wimborne were sent as missionaries to that part of Germany (Franconia). They are remembered to this day as Patron Saints of towns and villages there.

The Wimborne/Ochsenfurt Twinning Association was founded in 1989, when Wimborne Minster Town Council agreed to the formal twinning of the two towns.

The aims are:-

• to promote and foster friendship and understanding between the people of the Wimborne area and of Ochsenfurt and its German twin town of Colditz,
• to encourage visits by individuals and groups to and from the towns, particularly by young people, and the development of personal contacts, to broaden the mutual understanding of the cultural, recreational and commercial activities of the linked town.
• Relationships between the communities have developed easily. A common heritage, even from so long ago, has produced peoples who seem to think in the same sort of way and share the same sense of humour. Individual friendships are formed each time visits are made.

Some visits have been made by specific groups e.g. students, orchestral musicians, choirs, scouts and sportsmen, but the majority of the exchanges have been general visits to and from Ochsenfurt, usually in alternate years. This enables members who do not belong to any formal group to stay with a family and get to know people, the picturesque town and the surrounding area. Visitors from the Wimborne area have always been most hospitably received.

Often the visits to Ochsenfurt are at the time of the Ochsenfest, the traditional local Harvest-time street festival when oxen are spit roasted in various locations through the town, and a general carnival atmosphere prevails through the streets.

The Association organises a very popular and successful Annual Lecture, given by a visting speaker, on some aspect of current German political, social or cultural life, German food and wine-tasting evenings, social events with a German flavour, a regular St. Nicholas’ Day party, and a German conversation group or language class when there is a demand.

For more information please visited the Wimborne Ochsenfurt Twinning Association website or contact Mr. Tony Cross, Court House, Cowgrove, Wimborne, Dorset. BH21 4EL or mail to tc@cthse.freeserve.co.uk