Sixty-five years of friendship between Toulon and Mannheim thanks to twinning

"It was the municipality of Mannheim who kindly informed me last month that the German Chancellor was coming to Toulon at the end of August," reveals Magali Turbatte, deputy mayor, responsible for international relations. This shows that the twinning between the two cities is still very much alive, even after more than sixty years of existence. "Of the four twinning arrangements in the city of Toulon, this is by far the most dynamic," states the Toulon elected official bluntly. And adds: "This dynamism is mainly due to the city of Mannheim, which is twinned with many cities and which dedicates two people to the twinning with Toulon alone."

The personality of Mannheim's mayor - Christian Specht - is also no stranger to the sincere friendship that unites the German city with Toulon. "Christian Specht speaks French very well. But beyond that, when he was a teenager, he benefited from this twinning by participating in an exchange between his school and the Bonaparte high school. It was also on the train taking him back to Germany that he learned of the helicopter crash in which 46 people, including 23 members of the Toulon Para club, died on September 11, 1982. A tragedy that deeply affected him," Magali Turbatte continues.

A twinning that is always evolving

Although the learning of German is somewhat in decline on the shores of the harbor, as is the learning of French in Germany, school exchanges between the two cities continue. The Pierre Puget, Ravel, and Voltaire middle schools, as well as the Bonaparte, Dumont d'Urville, Cisson, and Anne-Sophie Pic high schools (hotel management school) maintain close links with the following German establishments: Gesamtschule Mannheim Herzogenried, Feudenheim gymnasium, Geschwister-school gymnasium, Johanne Sebastian Bach gymnasium, Werner Von Siemens, Lessing gymnasium, and Justus-Von-Liebig Schule.

But under the leadership of Christian Specht, who in 2019 told Var-matin that it was "time to invent twinning 2.0" , the friendship between Toulon and Mannheim goes far beyond these always friendly exchanges between schoolchildren. According to Magali Turbatte, who is preparing an application for the Senate's Franco-German Twinning Prize, "every year, Mannheim traders are present at the Bacchus wine and gastronomy fair. Last March, Christian Specht and his municipal council even made the trip. The Toulon Provence Méditerranée metropolitan tourist office participates every year in the French market organized by our German twin city. In addition, TVT Innovation and Next Mannheim have joined forces to promote the incubation of start-ups in each of our two cities" .

The "pride" of the mayor of Mannheim

As you can see, Toulon and Mannheim don't really need Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to Toulon this Friday, August 29, as part of the 25th Franco-German Council of Ministers, to maintain their strong friendship. "But if it allows us to focus on a city that is friendly to Germany, that's always good," concludes the Toulon representative.

"We're a little jealous in Mannheim that this Franco-German council of ministers is taking place in Toulon and not here," says Christian Specht, in an amused tone. In reality, the mayor of Mannheim, who, he tells us, "wrote a letter to the German chancellor at the beginning of the week to explain the richness of the twinning between his city and Toulon," says he is "very proud" that his French heartland city was chosen for such a meeting. And if, after 65 years of twinning, the friendship between Toulon and Mannheim is going well, Christian Specht insists: "School and cultural exchanges are important, but we must also establish economic exchanges between our two cities. And take on environmental issues, by involving young people."