A delegation from Madison’s sister city Freiburg, Germany, made the journey overseas last week to tour several important city sites in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the cities’ formal friendship.
According to a statement, the visitors from the mid-sized southwest German city included the city’s mayor Dieter Salomon, the Deputy Mayor, as well as other City Council members and community leaders.
The visitors arrived on Tuesday, and attended the City Council meeting where the 25th anniversary of their partnership with the city was honored.
The visit was intended to focus on activities and institutions that reflect sustainability, Sally Miley, assistant to the mayor said. Freiburg is considered an international leader in sustainability and renewable energy, Miley said, and Madison would like to work with them on those issues.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the delegation visited Madison’s Farmers’ Market, the Children’s Museum, Central Library, the Overture Center, the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and the Verona-based company EPIC.
“It was a very short visit, but very packed full of activity,” Miley said.
Their visit encompassed a green tour at the Children’s Museum, a trip to the Central Library to look at the green aspects of the building, and a visit to the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. Miley said the group also toured new developments in the city like the Constellation apartment building on East Washington.
“While they are way ahead of us in energy independence and renewable energy we wanted to be able to show them what we are doing,” Miley said.
Miley said the visitors were “blown away” by EPIC, adding the delegation also enjoyed the Children’s Museum, as they were not familiar with the concept of a youth-aimed museum.
Miley said she believes the city was still able to provide Freiburg’s representatives with some new information, as a continuation of the mutual flow of ideas between the sister cities.
Mayor Paul Soglin acknowledged the green practices of Freiburg during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. He said the German city has also worked with Madison officials since the start of the friendship in 1988 on issues like renewable energy.
“Every mayor since then, several Common Council Members and citizens provided an avenue to bounce ideas off of each other,” Soglin said.
Besides being able to provide some new information to the Freiburg delegation about sustainability practices in the city, Miley said the group was able to meet University of Wisconsin students who have been able to study abroad during their visit to the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery.
Miley said one of Freiburg’s Citizen Committee members, Toni Schlegel, graduated from UW and was also part of the delegation.
Mayor Salomon spoke at the City Council Meeting about the long relationship between the two cities. He recalled Soglin’s visit to Freiburg last June that made him realize the strength of the friendship.
“Having such great conversations with you and your team were very refreshing and inspiring,” Salomon said.
Salomon said he was pleased to attend the City Council meeting that reaffirmed the “fruitful and solid relationship” between Madison and Freiburg despite the physical distance.
Salomon said he thought the two cities had a lot in common, and he was able to celebrate that fact on his visit.
“The similarities between our two cities become clear to me in terms of their size and beautiful surroundings,” Salomon said.
Madison has seven other sister cities in Lithuania, Italy, Cuba, East Timor, El Salvador, Mexico and Japan.
