Arlington Gives Warm Welcome to Sister City Delegates from Bad Königshofen, Germany

By Office of Communication

Posted on July 07, 2017, July 07, 2017

Sister City Bäd Königshofen, Germany visit to Arlington Sister City for our 65th anniversary and Fourth of July Celebrations photographed Sunday, July 2 through Thursday, July 6, 2017.
Photography by Bruce E. Maxwell.

With fried chicken, fireworks, and fun summer activities, the City of Arlington gave a warm welcome this week to visitors from Sister City Bad Königshofen, Germany.

Arlington's friendship with its Sister City stretches back more than 65 years, when a community drive was held to collect food, medical supplies, clothing and school supplies for people of the small northern Bavarian town. Every five years, delegates from Arlington and Bad Königshofen take turns visiting each other's cities to continue strengthening that relationship. Last year, Arlington delegates toured attractions, attended festivities and met with dignitaries to celebrate Bad Königshofen's 1,275^th anniversary.

This year was the Bad Königshofen delegates turn to explore The American Dream City. Besides meeting with city, community and public safety leaders, the 15 delegates visited Arlington restaurants, including Babe's Chicken Dinner House - where they enjoyed learning how to line dance - and entertainment venues, including the Levitt Pavilion and Studio Movie Grill at Lincoln Square. The delegates also visited the University of Texas at Arlington planetarium, Free Play Arlington, the Arlington Museum of Art, Legal Draft and the Bad Königshofen Family Aquatic Center at Stovall Park.

After enjoying the City's annual fireworks display at Light Up Arlington in Downtown on Monday, delegates participated in the Arlington 4^th of July Parade on Tuesday. Thomas Helbling, who is Burgermeister of Bad Königshofen, was this year's International Grand Marshal. Delegates rode a parade float that was a replica of the train station platform where Arlington residents dropped off supplies to be shipped to the German town in the 1950s.

"Our visitors were humbled to be a significant part of the July 4th parade," said City Councilwoman Sheri Capehart. "They were overwhelmed at the warm response and reception they received from the people of Arlington and they were amazed by how big our parade was."

Host families held a cookout Tuesday night, featuring hot dogs, hamburgers, yard games and sailing.

On Wednesday, the visitors toured the Ott Cribbs Public Safety Center and Fire Station No. 5. There, they got to check out forensics and tactical technology, the 9-1-1 call center, explosive detection canines and other features that keep Arlington residents and visitors safe.

Arlington said goodbye to its sister city visitors on Thursday after nearly of week of fun-filled experiences.

Office of Communication interns Yaz Jackson and Autumn Sanders contributed to this report.