Kiel
- Brest: the
twin-city partnership
The
first friendly contacts with Brest were established as far back as the early
1960s by the German-French Society in Kiel. The Society paved the way for the
official twinning of the cities.
On 1 August 1964, Brest and Kiel signed the twinning agreement.
Formal links between the two municipalities are thus just a little younger than
the Elysée Agreement concluded between France and Germany on 22 January 1963.
Both cities have a lot in common. Both are seaports, naval and university cities.
In the Second World War, both were largely destroyed. From the very beginning,
Brest and Kiel saw their partnership as contributing to the consolidation of
friendly relations between France and Germany and as helping the countries of
Europe to grow together.
There followed nearly four decades of lively exchange. The partnership, which
today is seen as a matter of course, grew and developed as a result of innumerable
encounters at social, sporting, academic and local governmental levels.
Print version
