Wrexham has had a longstanding town twinning relationship with the central North Rhine-Westphalia district of Märkischer Kreis (just east of Dortmund). The twinning began in 1970 between our city and the district of Iserlohn, which later merged to form the Märkischer Kreis.
Cultural Exchanges
This relationship has seen many cultural exchanges, particularly among young people, through events such as the Borras Park Albion Football Club’s visits to TuS Plettenberg and the Theatr yr Ifanc Rhos 1990 youth theatre group’s exchanges with their German counterparts. Residents celebrated the 40th anniversary of the twinning with a week of activities in Wrexham in October 2010.
Theatr Yr Ifanc Rhos 1990 is a not-for-profit community theatre group founded in 1990. It is based at the Stiwt Theatre in Rhos. For many years, they have twinned with the Märkischer Kreis-based marching band called Spielmannszug Drüpplingsen. The band will be visiting Wrexham from 12th to 17th October.
They take it in turns to visit each other every four years, and in October 2023, over 30 young people from Wrexham, aged 11-18, travelled with the TYI committee and chaperones to Märkischer Kreis, where they performed “We Will Rock You”.
Twinning Celebration
A twinning celebration event will take place at Hotel Wrexham on Monday, 13th October. This came about when Natalie Edwards from Theatr yr Ifanc Rhos connected with Peter Schriewersmann, Commercial Director of Hotel Wrexham. Peter is originally from Lippstadt near Märkischer Kreis. The celebration will coincide with the visit of 31 members of the German marching band to Wrexham for a week.
Peter has been passionate about the twinning partnership since he first came to Wrexham in 2023. “I spoke to many locals who have fond memories of the exchange visits and my home region in Germany, which makes me proud. Reconnecting both areas and their people and helping them to strengthen their friendship again is an honour and will create so much value to everyone involved.”
Wrexham Mayor Tina Mannering also spent a few days visiting Märkischer Kreis last month. She met other twinning councils from Waterford, Ireland, and Powiat Raciborski, Poland during her time there. The German contingent even remembered the Rhos Silver Band’s visit to them in 1990. Our representatives presented the mayor with a harp made especially by Derwent Harps.
“Mind-Blowing”
Tina and our team went on a tour of Feldhof Cave in the Hönne Valley, the castle at Balve, and the Menden Industrial Museum in Rödinghausen. The trip finished with a gala concert for 2,000 people held in the Balve Cave (Balver Höhle), the longest open cave in Europe. “The acoustics were mind-blowing,” said Tina.
The welcoming committee were incredibly hospitable. Tina and the team were blown away by the warmth and kindness shown to them. “They treated us like royalty and would let us pay for a single thing,” she said.
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