Sister City visitors from Pinneberg, Germany came to Rockville during German-American Day

The Rockville Sister City Corporation (RSCC) celebrated its German-American relationship by hosting 14 sister city visitors from Pinneberg, Germany during the week of 4-11 October.

Pinneberg’s Mayor (Bürgermeisterin) Urte Steinberg along with a 13-person delegation of photographers and their families came to Rockville to present a 30-photo exhibit at the Rockville Senior Center.  The pictures show scenes of people, buildings, events and the natural environment around Pinneberg and in the vicinity of Hamburg.  The exhibit is open to the public for the remainder of October.

Mayor Steinberg stayed with Brigitta Mullican, the current Rockville Sister City Corporation president.  They spent one day in DC and attended the German-American Day Celebration at the German American Heritage Museum on October 6.  Ms. Mullican also took the Pinneberg Mayor on a tour of Rockville’s Glenview Mansion, Town Center, Croydon Nature Center, Pinneberg Ave, the Sister City Friendship Bridge, and Brookside Gardens.

Ms. Mullican said, “Urte is very interested in environmental issues and was amazed at how many trees there are in the Rockville area.”  The mayor was especially impressed with the size of the Elephant tree in the Conservatory of Brookside Gardens.

On Saturday, October 5, the RSCC held a German-American Day dinner for members, the Pinneberg visitors, and invited guests.  The guest speaker was Mr. Waldemar Gries, principal of the German School in Potomac.

On the official German-American Day, October 6, RSCC and its Pinneberg visitors celebrated not only the heritage of German-Americans but also the vibrant and multifaceted relationship between the two countries.

Ms. Mullican was pleased to get to know the Pinneberg Mayor on a personal level.  They both have many areas of agreement, view life in similar ways and believe the sister city relationship between our two cities (originating in 1957) is very important in understanding different cultures.

For more on German-American Day, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German-American Day.