Subject
title
Proclamation Celebrating February 25, 2024, as the 40th Anniversary of Pinneberg, Germany Sister City Corporation
end
Department
Recreation & Parks
Recommendation
Staff Recommends the Mayor and Council read and approve the proclamation.
Discussion
On February 25, 2024, the Deutsch-Amerikanische Gesellschaft Rockville-Pinneberg e.V. (DAGRP), which is the Pinneberg, Germany Sister City Corporation, celebrates its 40th anniversary, a significant milestone in the Rockville-Pinneberg sister city relationship.
The Rockville-Pinneberg sister city relationship started in 1957, with reciprocal visits by Rockville Mayor Dickran Hovsepian and Pinneberg Burgermeister Henry Glissman. This notable undertaking by the City of Rockville, Maryland was among the earliest relationships under President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s People-to-People Program. This program was a soft diplomacy initiative used to raise peaceful understanding around the world post World War II.
The initial sister city relationship was handled by the municipal governments in both cities. By the 1980s, the relationship needed renewed invigoration. Rockville Mayor John R. Freeland took over the initiative to reenergize relations with Pinneberg, in collaboration with the Rockville Cultural Arts Commission Chair John Moser. They challenged both cities to innovate ideas for more active and richer exchanges and travelled to Pinneberg in 1982 and 1983.
Additionally, Pinneberg founded a citizen corporation, outside the city government, to bring fresh citizen engagement. This led to the founding of DAGRP in 1984, which we now celebrate. Two years later, in 1986, Rockville followed suit and founded the Rockville Sister City Corporation (RSCC) as a comparable organization to the DAGRP.
DAGRP will host a gala in Pinneberg to celebrate its 40th anniversary on February 25, 2024. Former Rockville Mayor Steven Van Grack will attend this celebration to show Rockville support at this momentous occasion.
Mayor and Council History
This is the first time the proclamation has been to the Mayor and Council.