. ^COUNCIL OF EUROPE >-* CONSEI^^__^__.L_ D... E L' EUROPE CONFIDENTIAL Strasbourg 29 November 1976 AS/Loc/Prix (28) 7 e>S PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

COMMITTEE ON REGIONAL PLANNING AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES .

.Sub-Committee on the Europe.Prize and the propagation of the European idea

EUROPE PRIZE Application by WINNENDEN (Federal Republic of ) (Baden-Wurttemberg) a. Letter from the Mayor i b. Replies to the questionnaire

47.624 01.52

CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL AS/Loc/Prix (28) 7 - 1 - *• a. Letter from the Mayor 19 May 1976 Subject: Application of the major district town of Winnenden for the award of the Flag of Honour of the Council of Europe

Ladies and Gentlemen, " Winnenden hereby submits its application for the award of the Flag of Honour of the Council of Europe on the next possible occasion for its town pairing agreement with the French town of in Savoy and the school pairing agreements with Esquadreville in France and Tiverton in England. In support of our application we enclose the official questionnaire and a number of other documents giving information about Winnenden. The reasons for our application will be found in our replies to the questionnaire. Preliminary contacts for the town pairing agreement with Albertville were established almost ten years ago, and more than 7 years ago this agreement was officially recognised by signature and an exchange of documents. Winnenden hopes that the members of the committee will see from the information supplied that the town pairing agreement between our town and Albertville has made an impact which has received recognition far beyond Winnenden itself. We should like to point out that the town applied for the award of the Flag of Honour of the Council of Europe as early as 1973, but unfortunately without success. Hitherto we have received no news of the response given to our informal application. Winnenden is extremely anxious that its approach now should not be regarded as a new application but merely a repetition of the original application, backed up by more detailed information. The General Secretary of the International Union of Mayors, Mr. Engelhardt, is familiar with our pairing agreement and can at any time confirm the information we supply. Furthermore the Bureau of the Town Pairing Committee is willing to answer any questions whenever the need aris'es. We should be very happy to hear in the near future whether and when Winnenden can count on the award of the Flag of Honour. Yours sincerely, Mayer Verwaltungsrat

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Grgsse Kreisstadt_Winnenden4_gems;Murr;I&;eis 1. . .Membership in organisations of local authorities Re-ply; • ..," International Union of Mayors Membership of the Council of European Mimicipalities is ..also, a possibility.....

2. Contribution to their activities • .y.fc- * Reply; .

The International Union of{ Mayors is cbnsta.ntly kept, informed of appropriate offers. Winneriden'is ready at: any time to organise European events or support them. .

"Twinning" activities Reply; ' •"'- :'* ' • "•- -! -'•' --...-•. (a) Albertville/Savoy/France Esquadreville ... , • Tiverton/Great Britain . ' ". . . The list attached to our application gives-ail events connected with the Winnenden-Albertville town pairing agreement. Further details may be obtained from .it. There has been a town pairing agreement with Albertville since 1967. It was officially ratified in 1969, and in recent, years it has been possible to extend it to"many fields thrpugh the associations and-schools; Many personalities ,in.public life and also a number'of institutions have described this pairing agreement as exemplary not least becau'se of the personal contribution made by the citizens of Winnenden. :,.,.... A pairing committee was.set up to co-ordinate work in . this field ;i.n 1969 >and..comprises representatives, of . . the muni'dipjal council, the schools and the associations-. A Junior ."cbmmittee was founded about three years, .-ago to de,al,. in particular, with youth affairs^,and it .elects . two iriembers to the Town Pairing.Committee. This Junior committee, which has hitherto been unique, has aroused the interest of numerous towns and municipalities throughout the whole of the Federal Republic. The

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International Union of Mayors has reported pn.this ... institution on several occasion in it's statements. In 1969 a Town Pairing 'Agreement Office was set up at the headquarters of the municipal administration and it deals with all questions concerning the town pairing agreements, ' organises events and exchanges and awards subsidles to schools and asaociations in accordance with the guidelines drawn up by the Town Pairing Committee (one copy enclosed). As recently as 8 May 1976 a co-founder and energetic supporter of the town pairing agreement, Councillor Herbert Winter was awarded the distinguished service medal of the Land of Baden-Wttrtt ember g,. particularly because, of the work he had done on behalf of- this-town pairing agreement. A letter of congratulations from the Prime Minister's Office states inter alia: "Furthermore reference should be made to his interest in promoting the town pairing agreement between Winnenden and the French town of Albertville and fostering good relations'between French and German war veterans;11 •

4. Other relations with municipalities abroad Reply; . • Esquadreville/France ...... School pairing agreement and pairing agreement between the association of disabled ex-servicemen and the equivalent French .organisation. Tiverton/Great Britain ' School pairing agreement The school -pairing agreements with Esquadreville and for almost a year how, with Tiverton too, are promoted independently of the Albertville agreement. They came into being on the initiative of the town, and the secondary schools. All the sports clubs, the Association of Disabled ex-Servicemen, the Association of War Veterans, choir and mus'lc associations, the local branch of the General German Automobile Club, the Association of Reservists of'the Federal German Army, the Dog Lovers' Club, the Fishermena1 Association, the Association of .independent Businessmen. Reference should also be made "to..ah. exchange of school children at all levels. . .

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5. Exchange of persons . •.:. ;. . .V. • '•: Reply; - ... Yes.' Exchanges 'are1 organised, through the pairing office • (holiday "employment Is found for young people from both towns and opportunities for training in the paired towns are promoted). Addresses are supplied to citizens interested in making contacts. • . " • " .,.-:*'•• '••' . " • •• :.•••" 6. Organisation of European events Reply; ' '-'' • '. ': ' Hobby exhibitions, concerts by the town band and concert orchestra, international track and field sports events and numerous sports competitions; (particularly handballt '.'. judo, football, ski, automobile rallies). Furthermore a Franco-German camp for young people is organised annually in Winnenden.

7. Europe Day (5 May) •- .;; .. Reply; . Yes. Attention is drawn to the event by hoisting flags, posters and a special statement in the town information bulletin. Official notice is also taken of this day. Instructions issued in^s'chools. - . .• . ' '".!.(:•• . i . .' . The town continues to attempt to associate the population with Europe Day events.

8. Support to European movements Reply; Yes.. Plans are..ln>hand for a youth hostel open to young people ..from abroad; a youth centre dealing with migrant .; workers1 problems is.'already in existence. An "action committee1 to provide language teaching for -foreign children"vwas recently founded .on..a.>'private basis r •=.*• withA support from, ^he town. It promotes the .provision of .-German courses for foreign children/particularly from migrant workers' families, in order to• -make 'it easier for them to attend classes in the Winnenden schools.

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9. Propagation of the European Idea ...... ;.-• Reply; . . Regular lectures at.the Winnenden adult evening school, eg . a lecture by Professor Sadler (Sprbonne) and talks •on European topics concerning England and.-'Prance. Essay and drawing competition on the paired town. Extended language and literary courses in Franch and English. All the headmasters of the schools in Winnenden play an active part within the Town Pairing Committee and make their pupils aware of the European heritage through the .. existing town or sch'ool pairing agreements. . • '. : • • '. .-"'.: I 10. Actions of European solidarity . . \ .•Reply; . . . So far there have been many initiatives, particularly at private level, which have been supported by the town to the best of its abilities. • . .

11. Presentation V : Reply: ' . • Yes. The town is ready at any time to organise a large- scale ceremony if the Flag of Honour is awarded, and to repeat this on an annual basis. ; • •. • ••••**''.'- 12. Other initiatives , ' t Reply; Detailed information will be found in the replies given to questions 1-11. In particular we should like to draw ^attention to the organisation of rallies to our paired town and the subsidising of meetings in accordance with a carefully organised scale of awards. Since. 1 .January 1975 Winnenden has had the .-status of a major district town and after the incorporation of certain . - neighbouring municipalities it now has a population of about 23,000 inhabitants.

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Furthermore the town is linked through an association of municipalities with the neighbouring municipalities of Leutenbach and . The town is situated about 25 kilometres to the north east of in t the Rems-Murr-Kreis, middle Neckar region, between the ' towns of and .

Enclosures; 1 book on Winnehden 3 leaflets 1 map of the municipality and district

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