Twinning activists from Borne and Rheine met for the twinning day
Rheine. News from the life of the djeladas and tigers in the nature zoo – faces of Europe in the “me&you” exhibition of the Europa-Union Steinfurt in the Kubushaus of the Gertrudenstift as well as discussions about current topics in both twin towns: The annual partner meeting of members of the partner committee Borne and the board of the town twinning association Rheine provided up-to-date information for many participants. Once a year, twinning activists from Borne and Rheine meet for this twinning day – alternately in Borne and Rheine.
Bernd Weber, Deputy Chairman of the Europa-Union, presented the “me&you” project to the participants in the Kubushaus. He explained the aims of the Europa-Union, which aims to bring Europe closer to the people. In view of current developments, we need cohesion in Europe more than ever, said Weber. The exhibition focuses on the statements of couples from different European nations, with one partner coming from the Steinfurt district. Above all, statements on freedom of movement and peace dominate. “Everyone can feel inspired by the statements of these people,” Weber concluded.
After coffee and cake in the Gertrudenstift, the group set off for the nature zoo. There, zoo inspector Michael Rolfs welcomed the visitors. The expert explained the aims of the Rheiner nature zoo in an informative and entertaining way. For example, the Rheiner Nature Zoo was one of the first zoos since the 1980s to dedicate itself to breeding djeladas. 500 animals in zoos around the world are managed from Rheine in areas such as breeding, animal exchange, etc.
The visitors learned that a tiger from the Rheinestock is soon to be moved to a zoo in Israel (“we have been working on this for a year and a half”). After that, a tomcat from the zoo in London is to be relocated to Rheine. Afterwards, the encounter with the Bactrian camels was very interesting. If you wanted to, you could feed the impressive animals from your hand. A somewhat sticky experience that guests don’t get to enjoy every day.
The day ended with dinner in the zoo restaurant. The town twinning association Rheine would like to thank Michael Rolfs in particular for the entertaining tour. After refreshments, the members of the partner committee traveled back to Borne. They will meet again on November 8 at a full-day meeting in the Euregio conference center in Glanerbrug. The city partners then wanted to look at future common topics of the town twinning work and, above all, new challenges in view of the situation in Europe. www.friendsineurope.com