Friendships forged thanks to Aberystwyth-Kronberg twinning

I first travelled to Kronberg with Elinor Powell’s Sgarmes in 2013 when we were chosen to represent Aberystwyth at the German town’s incredible Christmas markets.

We were treated like royalty, taken on tours, given glühwein, and fed fabulous food during our three-day stay.

We performed multiple times, giving outdoor concerts on snow-filled streets and a more formal performance in the Stadthalle ballroom. This amazing evening was attended by musicians and dignitaries from each of Kronberg’s four twin towns - Aberystwyth, La Lavandou in France, Porto Reconate in Italy and East Germany’s Ballenstedt. As we listened to performances and speeches from each country and partied the night away with our new European friends I imagined this was what going to the Eurovision song contest might be like.

All too soon it was time to leave, and we bade farewell to Kronberg. I returned home with wonderful memories of a trip with friends old and new, and a desire to find out more about this special relationship between Aberystwyth and Kronberg.

I asked Aberystwyth’s twinning committee members where it all began, and they pointed me in the direction of the man who inspired it all.

Fritz Pratschke told me how he cried in bed at eight years old, believing people from other countries would dislike him because of World War II. This upset turned into a desire to heal wounds and form friendships, and when he became a teacher in Germany, he did just that.

“I wanted to find a partner school in Great Britain for a pupil exchange,” Fritz recalls.

“I applied to the Hessian Cultural Ministry for assistance in the search.

“In 1967 Ken Loates, a teacher at Ardwyn Grammar School, Aberystwyth, contacted me.

“He’d been informed about my wish by the British Council but was doubtful about my willingness to make contact with a school so far away.

“As a young man and enthusiastic teacher I was prepared to take on this adventure and started the exchange in 1968.

“I maintained this exchange for 30 years until my retirement in 1999 with the aim of contributing to international understanding after World War II, and to giving students the opportunity to learn about the country whose language they were learning, its school system, its family life and its beautiful countryside.”

When Arwyn closed the exchange programme continued with Penglais, and Kronberg students kept travelling to Aberystwyth too.

“Several hundred lived, during this period, in and around ‘Aber’, thus making Kronberg one of the best known German towns,” Fritz explained.

But at the start of the new millennium Parliament said British children could no longer stay with European families in case they came to harm.

“After 30 years of successful exchange work I was shocked and sad by the sudden ending of the school exchange experience and hoped a letter to the then British Commissioner in Brussels, Neil Kinnock, would bring about a compromise,” said Fritz.

“My efforts were without effect and so the official exchanges ended.”

But an official twinning ceremony between Aberystwyth and Kronberg had taken place just prior, in 1997, so thanks to Fritz and the Aberystwyth-Kronberg Committee, the friendships formed between the towns have been maintained for decades, and new ones are always being made as more incredibly lucky people - like me - get invited on twinning trips.

This makes Fritz Pratschke, the ‘father’ of the partnership, very happy.

When a delegation from Kronberg come to Aberystwyth next June for the Aberystwyth leg of the 30th anniversary of the twinning celebrations to take place, I hope Fritz and his wife Rita will be part of it. Now 90, he fears that may not be possible, but if he does make the journey, and if I am able to take part in those celebrations, it will be my fourth time meeting this marvellous man.

The second came in 2023 when Elinor Powell’s Sgarmes was once again invited to return to Kronberg.

We were welcomed with open arms once more, reuniting with familiar faces from a decade ago. We performed at the Stadthalle and various Christmas markets again, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

I secretly hoped, but never dreamed, that we would be lucky enough to be invited for a third time, but that’s exactly what happened this year, when Elinor Powell’s Sgarmes was chosen to represent Aberystwyth at Kronberg’s summer wine festival and the German leg of the 30th anniversary twinning celebrations. Thank you to Elinor for taking me to Germany for a third time.

A wonderful trip awaited us yet again with familiar faces waiting to see us – and this time it was sunny July!

I was touched by speeches from the Kronberg delegation thanking Ceredigion residents for voting to remain in the European Union during the Brexit referendum of 2016, and of the need now more than ever, when many countries are at war, for people to unite. Just metres from where these speeches were made in Berliner Platz is a section of the Berlin wall, a sobering reminder of how quickly we can be divided.

But there is no division between these two towns and I have fallen in love with Kronberg and its residents. I cannot wait to welcome them to Aberystwyth next June and, in a bid to return to Kronberg, I might join the twinning committee… You can too. Visit Aberystwyth-Kronberg Twinning on Facebook or email [email protected] for more information.