Speyer is a town and district in the south of Rhineland Palatinate which has a rich history. As Victor Hugo put it, “all the hordes of men who both laid waste to and enriched Europe passed through Speyer”. At the same time, it is a town which has stood out over the centuries for a spirit of tolerance rarely equalled in Europe. Having first looked westward with three outstanding twinnings (Chartres in France, Ravenna in Italy and Spalding in the United Kingdom),
Speyer decided to add a new dimension to its international relations and established twinnings with the Russian town of Kursk in 1989 and with Gniezno in Poland in 1992. In 1998, it decided to twin with Yavne in Israel. In terms of encouraging and co-ordinating exchanges, Speyer is able to draw on the commitment of large numbers of citizens active in five friendship committees which maintain ongoing contacts with the twin towns.
