Although the 40 years of our partnership had already been celebrated the previous year in Epping, in 2023 it was the turn of Eppingen to honour this milestone with a long and lavish event commemorating ‘40+1’ years.

On Sunday, 18 June 2023, Eppingen turned out in force to welcome 26 guests from England in the festively decorated Stadthalle (assembly hall). Among them were the mayor of Epping, Christine Burgess; president of the Epping association Humphrey Wheeler; committee chair Barbara Scruton; and her two vice-chairs, Lis Goodwin and Derek Humphrey.

Humphrey Wheeler, Barbara Scruton and Christine Burgess acknowledged the commitment of members in both countries.

“We are the embodiment of international friendship.” This was the recurring theme in the keynote speech by Eppingen mayor Klaus Holaschke. The twinning partnership served as a model for European harmony and understanding – both during the last four decades and for the future.

Heike Lachowitzer, chair of the Eppingen association, saw the twinning as a metaphorical bridge – one that was built 40 years ago. Since that time it had been in constant use and had shown no signs of wear. This bridge was constructed from our many mutual visits and shared memories. Not least among these were the language courses that take place annually, alternating between English in Epping and German in Eppingen, and including many outings to places far and near.

Among the many shared memories that Eppingen members treasured included a visit to Royal Ascot, where they were able to wave to the late Queen as she drove past. There had also been many other memorable outings, including royal residences, stately homes and some beautiful towns.

“Our English hosts have offered us experiences that the average tourist in England could never dream of.” But she emphasised that the lifeblood of our partnership is the many personal interactions and resulting friendships.

Humphrey Wheeler looked back at the beginning of our partnership, when Alan Swann from the Epping Forest Band met his opposite numbers in Eppingen. It was then not long before the respective mayors had signed our twinning documents.

An extended part of the evening was dedicated to honoring longstanding members.

An important moment in the celebration was the distribution of awards. These honoured the exemplary voluntary efforts of individuals towards the partnership. The association’s gold medal (for over 20 years’ service) was awarded to David Goodwin, Lis Goodwin, Chris Harriss, Irene Harriss, Heike Lachowitzer, Andrea Lang and Eva Mairhofer.

Silver medals (over 15 years) were received by Joy Eldridge, Barbara Lane, Jan Latham, Manuela Störzinger and John Taylor.

Bronze medals (over 10 years) were awarded to Ina Eggensperger, Ingrid Enchelmaier, Elke Frey, Doris Hamlin, Don Hamlin, Christopher Hartland-Peel, Jim Heath, Gerlinde Hoffmann-Dörr, Rosemarie Howis, Derek Humphrey, Jeannie Humphrey, Dr Rainer Köthe, Peter Le Beau, Robyn Marsh, Silke Pfefferle, Graciela Schar, Ruth Schildhauer, Barbara Scruton, Annemarie Uhler and Claus Weiske.

The stage was hardly big enough when the time came for Eppingen mayor Klaus Holaschke to present awards to members from both towns who had been involved in the partnership for more than 10 years. Honours were also bestowed on those with more than 15 and 20 years of service.

After this it was time for a banquet featuring local asparagus. Then came performances by Eppingen gymnasts, the Eppingen Town Band, and students from the local music academy. To end the evening the well-known German crooner Christian Engel got everyone dancing.

To mark the occasion a bilingual commemorative booklet had been produced, illustrating the highlights of our 40-year friendship. There was also the initial launch of the bi-national website that you are now reading. The website allows us to showcase our partnership and give details of forthcoming and previous events.

Before the main event of the day, Eva Mairhofer had given the visitors from Epping a morning tour of Eppingen’s historic Old Town. This included the Old University and the Town Hall Gallery. The latter had a display depicting the 2022 Garden Festival, alongside the ‘Forum Artificium’ craft market with its many tempting souvenirs. In addition, a number of traders had promoted the twinning and honoured the visitors with displays in their shop windows featuring Royal Ascot, English literature and British school uniforms.

There was another action-packed day on the Sunday. A busload of Epping and Eppingen members set out at 10 a.m. for a long day trip to the Palatinate region. On the way, Rainer Köthe had given a talk in English and German about the itinerary, including the Imperial Fortress at Trifels where the English king Richard the Lionheart had been briefly imprisoned.

Most of the group managed the steep climb to the fortress, but the less intrepid were given a tour of the Trifels Museum by Dr Köthe, and then enjoyed iced coffee at the town hall market.