The Richmond in Europe Association

 A New Partnership Confirmed

10th-12th June 2022. The Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court, & le Cercle du Jeu de Paume de Fontainebleau formalised their partnership at the château de Fontainebleau. The two clubs were competing for the inaugural Trophée du Drap d’Or, which had originally been scheduled for 2020 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Field of Cloth of Gold meeting between King Henry VIII & François I and the 60th anniversary of the first twinning between Fontainebleau & Konstanz, which should also have been celebrated in this year. However the pandemic led to a postponement.

The trophy will be contested on a biennial basis, alternating between Hampton Court Palace & le château de Fontainebleau. 

Michael Day, (on the left), the Chairman of the Royal Tennis Court & Thierry Bernard-Tambour, the President of the Cercle du Jeu de Paume signed the twinning agreement in the historic “Salon des Fleurs” of the château.

The Royal Tennis Court won the inaugural tournament by 13 matches to 11. Consequently la Trophée du Drap d’Or will be displayed at Hampton Court for the next two years.

To find out more about the Royal Tennis Court please click on the following link:

Royal Tennis Court.

For more details about Le Cercle du Jeu de Paume please click on this link.

Jeu de Paume

 

Vorsprung Durch Technik

30th May 2022.  REA has launched its own Instagram account. Our user name is, not surprisingly,

richmondineurope

To access it please click on the following link. (You will need to be logged into Instagram yourself to use it)

REA Instagram

A New Mayor & Patron for REA

24th May 2022.  Cllr. Julia Cambridge has been elected as the new Mayor of Richmond upon Thames.

Following a banquet in her honour Julia kindly accepted our invitation to become a Patron of the Richmond in Europe Association for her term of office. Julia succeeds Geoff Acton, the outgoing Mayor, as our English Patron. Our other patrons are the Mayors of Fontainebleau & Konstanz.

Julia’s chosen charity for her one year term of office is RUILS, which is run by & for disabled people. For further information about RUILS please click on the following link:

RUILS

A fourth service tree of Fontainebleau planted in Hampton

28th May 2022. A service tree of Fontainebleau has been planted on Hampton Common beside one of the new town twinning signs, which had been unveiled by the then Deputy Mayor, Cllr. Suzette Nicholson in September 2021.

There are now 22 of the town twinning signs & four service trees of Fontainebleau in the borough. The trees are native to the world famous Forêt de Fontainebleau. The other 3 trees can be found in the gardens of York House, Orleans House & outside East Sheen library.

Host a Teacher from Germany

Applications are currently being invited for the Host a Teacher from Germany Scheme for the next academic year. (2022-23).

Any primary or secondary school or further educational college can apply to host a qualified English teacher from Germany for up to three weeks at no cost whatsoever.

If the school offers German as a MFL both students & teachers will benefit enormously from having a native German speaker in the classroom. If the school does not offer German, the qualified teacher from Germany will introduce the children to the German language & culture.

All teachers will have the German equivalent of DBS certification, which is approved by the Department for Education. Visiting teachers will find their own accommodation or stay with host families, paying them £150 per week.

It sounds too good to be true, but it is true. For further information please click on the following link:

Further information.

Ein Musikalischer Begrüßungsempfang

5th March 2022. Tobias Kamprad from Konstanz treated REA committee members to a concert in East Sheen. Tobias is a trainee English teacher, who was working in a school in Twickenham to develop his teaching skills & to improve his fluency in English.

Tobias writes, “I’m 24 years old & currently studying English at the University of Konstanz to become an English teacher at secondary school. I’m came to the UK to get in touch with your culture, to meet people & to improve my English.

Besides English I study classical music, so I am also passionate about music, playing the piano, singing & conducting choirs. In 2020 I spent 6 months as an Erasmus student in Malmö, Sweden and I really appreciated the cultural exchanges.”

REA facilitated Tobias’ visit & held a reception for him shortly after his arrival, during which he performed a programme of largely German classical music.

 

You can see & hear Tobias playing Kinderszenen by Robert Schumann by clicking on the following link.

Kinderszenen

Co-incidentally Robert Schumann’s namesake, (with only one “n”), was one of the founders of the European Peace Project, which we know today as the European Union.

After school each day Tobias visited many of the famous sights of Richmond including Hampton Court Palace, where the great German composer Händel lived. Tobias greatly admires his work so he was absolutely delighted to be invited to play the organ in the Chapel Royal. Er war wie in siebenten Himmel!

For further news of Tobias’ visit please see the Past Events page.

REA Members Celebrate Edwina’s Great News.

5th March 2022. 32 years ago a young woman from Konstanz, named Edwina, fell in love with James, a young man from Richmond, during a twinning exchange. They married & have lived in Whitton ever since. Following Brexit, Edwina applied for settled status in order that she could continue to live in the UK with her husband and daughter. Incredibly her application was refused & she faced deportation.

Edwina was in despair. She dared not visit her mother in Konstanz for fear of not being allowed back into the country. After 9 months of fruitless correspondence with the Home Office, REA raised Edwina’s case with the German Embassy. Legal officers from the Embassy took up her case & within days Edwina was granted settled status.

At a reception for Tobias, our young visitor from Konstanz, on 5th March REA members also celebrated Edwina’s great news. Edwina & James contributed a special cake for the occasion to thank REA members for all their support.

United in our Support for Ukraine

4th March 2022. The Leader of Richmond Council issued a statement of support for the people of Ukraine and their family & friends living in Richmond upon Thames.

For the full statement & practical advice please click on the following link:

Leader’s Statement

28th February. The huge, revolving statue of Imperia, which dominates the harbour in Konstanz, is illuminated in the colours of Ukraine to demonstrate the support of our twin town. More practical help is also on its way. Much of this is being donated via Konstanz’s twin town of Tabor in the Czech Republic. Slovakia has a border with Ukraine, which reminds us how close the war is.

The Deputy German Ambassador Visits Richmond

2nd February 2022.  It was our great pleasure to welcome Julia Gross, the deputy German Ambassador, to Richmond. After lunch at the Petersham Hotel, where Julia was introduced to the first twinning baby, Davina Constance Marsh, REA chairman, Alan Mockford, accompanied Julia on a sightseeing stroll along the Thames to Twickenham, passing two of the new information boards about our twin European towns, the memorial to the Belgian Village on the Thames & Marble Hill House  before calling in at Orleans House Gallery.

There was just time to view Eel Pie Island, the memorial to Alexander Pope & the new fingerpost sign outside the civic centre before Julia was welcomed to York House by the Mayor, Cllr. Geoff Acton, Deputy Mayor, Cllr. Suzette Nicholson, & council leader, Gareth Roberts, before being invited into the Mayor’s parlour for tea & biscuits.

Julia thought that York House was one of the finest town halls that she had ever seen. She was particularly struck by the gardens & open air theatre. 

Julia was pleased to accept our invitation to become an honorary member of the Richmond in Europe Association & was presented with lapel badges of Konstanz & Richmond plus a reaffirmation commemorative mug for use in the German Embassy. In return she presented REA with a mug depicting Berlin.

Julia has agreed to come to Richmond again in the spring to visit a local school to promote the teaching & learning of German & to meet REA members. Before her departure there was, of course, the obligatory photograph by the fingerpost sign outside the town hall as the Council of Europe flag flew overhead.

A new Public Work of Art for Richmond

The Richmond in Europe Association is inviting submissions from local artists for a public work of art to commemorate the reaffirmation of the twinnings with Fontainebleau & Konstanz, which will take place in Richmond from 6th-8th June 2025.

The committee is looking for something which will attract both interest and attention. The chosen piece will represent the friendship between the three towns and/or our common European heritage & will endure for decades to come.

For further information please click on the Reaffirmation 2025 link at the top of this page or write to

richmondineurope@hotmail.com

REA has already commissioned these attractive commemorative mugs to publicise the reaffirmation of the twinnings with Fontainebleau & Konstanz which will take place in Richmond from 6th-8th June 2025.

For further information please click on the Reaffirmation in 2025 link at the top of this page.

 

Pour aller à Fontainebleau? Wie komme ich nach Konstanz?

5th November 2021. In glorious autumn sunshine the Mayor of Richmond, Cllr. Geoff Acton, & council leader, Gareth Roberts, unveiled a stylish new fingerpost sign outside the civic centre in Twickenham to help Richmond residents to find their way to our twin towns.

St. Margaret’s Elastic Band, which is twinned with Union Musicale de Fontainebleau, entertained the crowd of about 100 residents with a programme of French, German, American & English music before the mayor & council leader unveiled the sign to the strains of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”

The sign was commissioned by REA with the aid of a civic pride grant from Richmond council. As soon as it was unveiled, everyone wanted their picture taken with the sign. It will become the “must have” picture for all our visitors from our twin towns once the pandemic is over. 

After the photographs had been taken, guests moved to the garden of York House where Geoff & Gareth planted a service tree of Fontainebleau to commemorate both the occasion & climate week. These trees are native to the world famous forêt de Fontainebleau & three more were planted at sites in the borough associated with our twin towns.

After his exhausting work was done the mayor invited everyone to the town hall for tea & coffee.

To see a short film of the unveiling please click on the following link.

Film of unveiling

Another service tree of Fontainebleau was planted in the garden of Orleans House, where one of the three new information boards about our twin towns of Fontainebleau & Konstanz can also be found.

A third was planted outside East Sheen library, beside another of the new information boards, & a fourth was planted on Hampton Common, by one of the new town twinning signs.

A display about our European twin towns was also mounted in Twickenham library, which is not far from the fingerpost sign. 

Information about the twinning also greets you as you enter the civic centre in Twickenham. 

It is hoped that the fingerpost sign will remain a symbol of Richmond’s cherished international partnerships for decades to come.

New Statue Proposed for Richmond Riverside

June 2021.   Almost £38,000 has been raised for a statue of the famous author, Virginia Woolf to be installed in a prestigious location on Richmond riverside. Woolf lived in Richmond from 1914-24, during which time she founded the Hogarth Press. It is hoped that the proposed interactive statue of Woolf, seated on a bench, will cement Richmond’s place on the British literary map.

Comparisons have already been drawn with the seated lady on the balcony of the art nouveau apartments overlooking the Bodensee in Konstanz.

For further information please click on the following link:

Virginia Woolf statue

26th April 2021. The naked ladies cascade in the gardens of York House, Twickenham, has been restored to working order & looks absolutely delightful. It’s well worth a visit if you are in the area & a welcome addition to the attractions of the town hall, especially when we entertain our friends from Fontainebleau & Konstanz.

For more information about the statues, their refurbishment & the York House Society please click on the following link:

York House Society

Konstanz Close, East Sheen

March 2021.  A new road in Richmond has been named after our twin town of Konstanz. The properties in Konstanz Close are “eco-houses,” which are especially designed to have the smallest possible carbon footprint. In Germany they are called Passivhäuser. Given its green credentials Konstanz seems a most appropriate name.

Konstanz aus der Vogelperspektive

Our chairman came across this stunning bird’s eye view of Konstanz during his recent visit. Permission was sought from the photographer, Achim Mende, to use the photograph on the two new information boards which are being installed in Richmond to celebrate the reaffirmation.