The project examines the European dimension of town twinning links, which characteristically consisted of a wide array of political, economic, diplomatic and cultural processes and interests. Therefore, the project addresses a research gap in European contemporary history, which has – up to now – predominantly focussed on the ‘institutional Europe’ and omitted Europe’s wider societal perception, negotiation and performance.

On the basis of the links between Kiel and Coventry and Frankfurt and Birmingham, the project pursues the following questions: When was town twinning brought into a European context; which definition(s) of “Europe” dominated; and how did cities contribute to these shifting definitions? Among other things, the Europe Prize, established by the Council of Europe in 1955, will be used as a probe to tackle these questions.

Based on the key assumption that cities possess an intrinsic logic, this project examines how individual twinning links were formed and expanded upon through negotiation processes between the local, regional, national and international level. To highlight the foreign-policy dimension of town twinning, the project will also include the British cities’ twinning links with East Germany: while the GDR tried to use town twinning as a quasi-diplomatic tool, the links – and expectations connected with them – proved challenging in return.

Within the scope of the project, particular attention is given to the material dimension of town twinning since the forging of these partnerships was characteristically accompanied by the exchange of gifts and the placement of signs within the urban space. Frequently emphasizing the entirety of a city’s partners, these material markers thus hinted at a larger idea behind the ensemble of cities.