On August 7, 2019, a 94-strong party consisting of Odenwald Association members, Jenkins School of Highland Dancing, Falkirk Junior Gaelic Choir, local bands, The Tonkerers, Glenbervie Folk Duo, and Lads wi’ Gear, and assorted parents and friends, travelled by coach, car, plane and ferry to the Odenwald in Germany.
The reason for the trip was to help our German partners celebrate 50 years of twinning between our two regions.
Scroll down to see pictures from the trip – and click any shot for a larger image.
As well as the concert on the Saturday night, there was a dedication of a partnership tree planted at the Berufliches Schulzentrum Odenwaldkreis, a formal celebration at the Erbacher Brauhaus (which ended in true Scottish fashion with an impromptu concert), and a Sunday ‘thank you’ Brunch in the courtyard of Schloss Erbach.
Other activities over the weekend included a toboggan-run on the Sommerodelbahn in Wald -Michelbach, and an afternoon at the Alexanderbad swimming pool, for the dancers and choir, while other members visited a new Jugendstil exhibition in Wiesbaden, the Gutenberg Museum of Printing in Mainz, and the monastery at Miltenberg with their hosts. The four members travelling by car had an extra day in the Odenwald after the coach party had left and they revisited Darmstadt.
The Schottische Nacht concert in the courtyard of Schloss Erbach was a great success with the choir and dancers performing to great acclaim, and the three bands showing the German audience the wide variety of Scottish music.
We were very impressed by some of the audience who got right into the Scottish spirit, wearing kilts and other Scottish-themed outfits, and the concert got off to a fine start with the Heidelberg Pipes and Drums.
Our Chair, Gray Allan, compered the concert together with Rüdiger Holschuh, Vorsitzender of the Schottland Vereinigung, and finished off the evening with a heartfelt speech (in German) about the importance of twinning., especially in these uncertain times, and the need for ‘building bridges, not borders’, before the whole crowd joined in a spirited rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’.
All in all, a most successful trip. Auf die nächsten 50 Jahre Twinning!
Here’s a gallery of pictures from the “Schottische Nacht” held in Odenwald, Germany, in 2019.
Below: Dedication of a partnership tree planted at the Berufliches Schulzentrum Odenwaldkreis
Falkirk Twinning 