Neu-Anspach in Germany

Neu-Anspach is located about 35 km north of Frankfurt behind the eastern ridge of the Taunus. The town belongs to the Hochtaunus district, the district town of Bad Homburg https://www.bad-homburg.de is about 12 km away.

Neu-Anspach was created in the course of the territorial reform in Hesse on 1 December 1970 as a voluntary merger of the previously independent municipalities of Anspach, Rod am Berg and Hausen-Arnsbach. Westerfeld was added as the fourth district on 31 December 1971. Neu-Anspach has had municipal rights since 2007.

The economy of the merging former villages was agricultural and tended to be small-scale. The aim of the 1970/72 merger was to promote the settlement of citizens who mainly work in the Frankfurt am Main area on newly designated building sites. Nevertheless, a number of small and medium-sized businesses have settled here, in addition to numerous commercial and service enterprises. Among the largest employers are the ADAM HALL GROUP and GUDECO.

A tourist highlight is the HESSENPARK open-air museum. On an area of 65 hectares and in more than 100 historical buildings, the history of Hessian village life of the last centuries is shown.

http://www.hessenpark.de

Thalgau in Austria

The oldest town twinning links Neu-Anspach with the municipality of Thalgau in Austria. This connection has existed since 1973.

Thalgau, one of the oldest settlements in the country, lies in a wide valley, north-east of the provincial capital Salzburg, in the midst of the Salzkammergut lakes.

Today Thalgau is a central village in the eastern part of Flachgau with about 5,700 inhabitants. The municipality covers an area of 48.2 square kilometres.

Due to its proximity to the festival city of Salzburg and the Salzkammergut lakes, Thalgau is a popular feel-good place and known for numerous cultural & culinary activities.

From interesting excursion destinations to extensive cycling and hiking trails, the region is a source of strength that is well worth discovering.

On the tourism page, the municipality advertises with these words:

Do you long for sporting activities surrounded by unspoilt nature, or do you want to visit a wide variety of cultural events? Thalgau offers relaxing and eventful holidays for every taste!

Whether you want to spend your annual holiday here or just a weekend, Thalgau is the place to be all year round - we are always in season.

The following links provide further insights into the partner municipality:

To the website of the municipality: https://www.thalgau.at/

The digital edition of the municipality info is available here: https://www.thalgau.at/Aktuelles/Gemeinde-Info

To the Thalgau tourism site with accommodation directory, tips for excursions, places of interest and events, go here: https://www.thalgau-tourismus.at/

You can take a tour of Thalgau with this entertaining youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4FkysFZPLo

And best of all, be there at the next citizens' meeting at the christmas market in Neu-Anspach or/ and Thalgau to get to know the country and its people personally.

Šentjur in Slovenia

The trinational town twinning between Saint-Florent-sur-Cher, Šentjur and Neu-Anspach has existed since 2006. In Saint-Florent, the street "Rue de la Slovénie" has commemorated this friendship since 2014.

The municipality of Šentjur is 42 km away from Maribor, the former Marburg. Very close to the small town with its many small villages are the larger tourist thermal spas Rogaška Slatina and Olimje.

Šentjur was first mentioned in 1340, when the town began to develop around the original St. George's Church (Sveti Jurij). Saint George, the dragon slayer, is the origin of the town's name and the town's coat of arms also features the patron saint.

The upper Šentjur Square, which dominates the town with St. George's Church, was the home of famous composers of the Ipavec family. It has been turned into a museum with a wedding hall, the wine cellar has a shop selling top quality wines, and the old lime tree and the Plečnik fountain are in the garden.

On Rifnik Hill, which rises above the Šentjur valley, there is an archaeological park with the restored foundations of two early Christian churches, seven houses and defensive walls with guardhouses; a reconstructed prehistoric house houses an exhibition of recovered objects.

The surrounding villages also offer opportunities for active recreation. The marked mountain path from Šentjur leads to the hill Resevno with a mountain hut and a lookout tower. In Ponikev is the birthplace of the beatified bishop Anton Martin Slomšek (26.11.1800 - 24.09.1862), who was of great importance to the Slovenian national movement as a promoter of popular education and as a writer and poet.

The following links provide further insights into the partner municipality:

To the official page of the town (Slovenian and English): https://www.sentjur.si/obcinskevsebine/3518

To the tourism page in English: https://turizem-sentjur.com/en/

An entertaining travel blog describing the stay in Sentjur can be found here (only in German): https://www.travelwriticus.at/sehenswuerdigkeiten-sentjur/

Highly recommended is the tourism website for Slovenia: https://www.slovenia.info/en

And the best thing is to be there at the next citizens' meeting to get to know the country and its people personally.

Saint-Florent-sur-Cher in France

The official town twinning has existed since 1982, and the first links between the two communities were established as early as 1979. At first, pupils and teachers from the two schools, the Collège Voltaire and the Adolf Reichwein School, met during exchange weeks. This was followed by meetings of citizens and associations. The founders and pioneers were, in addition to a number of committed citizens, above all the city councillor Rudi Rübsamen and, in Saint-Florent, the German teacher Jeanine Granger.

Saint-Florent-sur-Cher is a municipality located in the heart of the middle Loire Valley, in the Cher department. It is about 100 km south of Orléans and twenty kilometres from Bourges, the departmental capital.

Formerly a Gallo-Roman village, the commune of Saint-Florent-sur-Cher developed between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries and became a landed estate of great importance in the region. In the nineteenth century, with the construction of a viaduct and the arrival of the railway, the town took off and took on the appearance it still has today for its visitors.

This old mining and industrial town is full of charm and still displays a charming architectural heritage that bears witness to a rich and long history.

It is not far from the famous castles of the Loire and there are also other exceptional places to visit in the surrounding area, such as the Abbey of Noirlac, the birthplace of the writer George Sand Nohant and only 12 km away the city of Bourges. Its famous Saint Etienne Cathedral, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco, is a masterpiece of architectural history. Many medieval half-timbered houses give the city a special flair and nature lovers will get their money's worth in the Marais (marshlands).

The famous wine-growing regions of Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and Quincy are close by, and the region is also well worth a culinary visit.

The following links provide further insights into the partner municipality:

The official town page (in French): https://www.ville-saint-florent-sur-cher.fr/

You can read and browse digitally - also in French - in the city magazine "Le Florentais": https://www.ville-saint-florent-sur-cher.fr/index.php/le-florentais
Tourist tips and suggestions can be found here: https://www.france-voyage.com/frankreich-stadte/saint-florent-sur-cher-3762.htm
Highly recommended for France fans and those who want to become one is the blog "Mein Frankreich.com" by Hilke Maunder. This link is about the region of our twin city municipality: https://meinfrankreich.com/berry/.

And the best thing is to be there at the next citizens' meeting to get to know the country and its people personally.