Twinning Association

Bracknell originally twinned in 1973 with Opladen in Germany, a town of a similar size to itself.  During a local government re-organization the Opladen local authority was taken over by Leverkusen, a town of about 160,000 people and the home of the famous Bayer Chemical Works. Leverkusen continued the partnership and is also twinned with several other towns across the world. Leverkusen is just north of Cologne and has a good train service to this city. You can read more about Leverkusen in the “Welcome to Leverkusen” guide (see related documents).

Bracknell Twinning Association works with the Freundeskreis in Leverkusen to arrange regular visits to their partner towns and in particular to facilitate exchanges between local interest groups, schools and sports clubs and for work experience. In recent years the bond of friendship between citizens of the twin towns has been re-kindled with an increasing number of exchanges and joint activities.

Regular updates about exchanges and joint activities are posted on the Council’s Facebook page.

The Bracknell Twinning Association is run by a committee elected each year at its Annual General Meeting. All its meetings are held in the Bracknell Town Council Chamber, usually on Monday evenings at about monthly intervals. Any local resident interested in twinning is welcome to make contact and attend the meetings. Various sports and cultural exchanges take place on a regular basis and the committee is always pleased to facilitate other exchanges for clubs or individuals.

The Association would be pleased to hear from anyone who may be able to offer accommodation to visitors from Leverkusen.

In recent years the square adjacent to the Council offices at Brooke House on High Street, Bracknell has been named Leverkusen Platz, there is a Bracknell Square in Opladen. Information boards have been placed in the squares giving a brief history of Leverkusen, of Bracknell and of twinning.

The Town Council offices are home to a small library of books and information about Bracknell’s twin town.

The Twinning Association always welcomes new members, please contact the Chairman for more information.