A spontaneous question: Can you list all seven twin cities of Munich? Not? Then you feel just like me. They are Edinburgh, Verona, Bordeaux, Sapporo, Cincinnati, Kiev and Harare. It doesn’t have to be because of you that you don’t know them all. These friendships exist on paper rather than actually being lived. City politicians have also noticed this and are now developing ideas on how this can be improved again. The time for this is ideal, because Munich has a new addition to the friendship list: the Israeli city of Beersheba on the edge of the Negev desert. Politicians worked briskly but very quietly, which is why it is now quickly and surprisingly for the public.
The Munich city council is due to make a decision on Wednesday, and immediately afterwards the two mayors want to sign the agreement in a digital box. That has many facets, of course: When Munich, as the “capital of the movement” and the birthplace of the NSDAP, enters into a partnership with an Israeli city, that is a special sign – and especially important for Mayor Dieter Reiter today. “In times when anti-Semitic resentment is increasing again, unfortunately, and Jews are being attacked on the street, we oppose this inhuman hatred and violence with our friendship,” he comments on the new city friendship.
But it should not stop with signs, even if they are important and indispensable. A lively exchange should develop between the two cities, which have some things in common. For example, you are growing very quickly, relying on start-ups and want to become a center for digital companies. Even if some believed that well-known Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv or Haifa were natural partners for Munich – Be’er Sheva in southern Israel could be an exciting choice. At least that was my spontaneous impression when I read the portrait of the city by our Israel correspondent Peter Münch.
Let him take you on a journey to a place on the edge of the desert, where Abraham once lived and now, like a mirage, high-rise buildings have grown into the sky. It is worth it ..
THE DAY IN MUNICH
“A completely new light on Munich’s city history” Archaeologists have discovered traces of settlement in the old town from the time before Munich was officially founded. The finds are six decades older. Does history now have to be rewritten? Go to Article
“You ask yourself: is it even worth it?” A study shows: In Munich, people apparently report hate crime less often than elsewhere. Discrimination not only affects the victims themselves – their acquaintances and friends also begin to avoid the scene of the crime. Go to Article
Left wants to reverse the clearing decision “A grandiose sloppiness”: The opposition faction in the city council believes that the decision to quarry gravel was not made correctly – and has an idea of how the forest could be preserved. Go to Article
Runway opponents fail before the Federal Constitutional Court The judges did not accept the constitutional complaint against the construction of a third runway due to incomplete documents. Go to Article
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