Kiel - Gdynia: the twin-city partnership
The friendly relations between Gdynia (formerly Gdingen) and Kiel go back to 1971. In that year, Kiel organised a series of "Polish Days", and the following year a series of "Kiel Days" was organised in Gdynia.
In 1975, the German-Polish Society was founded in Kiel. In the decade and a half before any official twin city partnership began, there was already an active programme of collaboration and enriching encounters at cultural, business and social levels.
On 25 July 1985, both cities concluded a general framework agreement on collaboration. This partnership agreement was later amended to take account of the changed political structures in Poland, and signed in its amended form on 7 February 1997.
In the meantime, there have been many intensive contacts between Kiel and Gdynia, successful programmes of co-operation in many different fields, and a lively exchange in almost all areas of private and public life.