(This is the second interview with Jan Brouwer,former official with the municipality of Schiedam.
In November 1990, Schiedam organized its first sister cities conference. Previously, Schiedam participated annually in various partner cities but was encouraged to host one themselves. They made it a significant event held in the auditorium of the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, commemorated with a group photo in front of the museum.
Schiedam had attendees from various cities and languages at the conference. While most spoke fluent English, Esslingen and Velenje needed simultaneous interpreters, which was very costly and took a significant part of our budget.
Schiedam also experienced the impact of the war in Yugoslavia— Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, etc. Slovenia, part of former Yugoslavia, is just below Austria and Italy. When the war broke out in the south, Schiedam took notice, especially due to the refugee crisis. Velenje asked for our help, and I took the initiative to start a relief effort.
Slovenia also wanted to become an independent republic and asked for support from its partner cities. The council of Schiedam had reservations, expressing that while they valued the sister city relationships, deciding on international political matters was beyond their scope and should be handled by national politics. As a result, Schiedam distanced itself from this issue, unlike Esslingen, which did not.
Eastern European countries were looking to establish close contacts with Dutch municipalities. However, Schiedam did not extend our contacts further into Eastern Europe.
A significant highlight was when Schiedam, together with Vienne and the Polish city Piotrków (partnered with Esslingen), received the Etoile d'Or award from the Council of Europe. We were recognized for forming a network of partner cities and organizing several successful exchanges, which was unique compared to the more common bilateral partnerships. The award ceremony took place in a grand theater in Ferrara, Italy, with a beautiful, full audience.
Jan explains that the successor of Mayor Scheeres, who had no interest in the sister city relationships instructed him to quickly remove the city signs. Mayor Scheeres, already retired, inquired about the signs, which had been taken down. Jan confirmed they were removed but secretly found two signs, now stored at the company that removed them. Taking and preserving these signs was seen as an act of resistance, though the succeeding mayor never knew they were taken. Otherwise, the speaker might have had a shorter tenure with the municipality.
Friends in a Cold Climate: After the Second World War a number of friendship ties were established between towns in Europe. Citizens, council-officials and church representatives were looking for peace and prosperity in a still fragmented Europe. After a visit of the Royal Mens Choir Schiedam to Esslingen in 1963, representatives of Esslingen asked Schiedam to take part in friendly exchanges involving citizens and officials. The connections expanded and in 1970, in Esslingen, a circle of friends was established tying the towns Esslingen, Schiedam, Udine (IT) Velenje (SL) Vienne (F) and Neath together. Each town of this so called “Verbund der Ringpartnerstädte” had to keep in touch with at least 2 towns within the wider network. Friends in a Cold Climate looks primarily through the eyes the citizen-participant. Their motivation for taking part may vary. For example, is there a certain engagement with the European project? Did parents instil in their children a a message of fraternisation stemming from their experiences in WWII? Or did the participants only see youth exchange only as an opportunity for a trip to a foreign country? This latter motivation of taking part for other than Euro-idealistic reasons should however not be regarded as tourist or consumer-led behaviour. Following Michel de Certeau, Friends in a Cold Climate regards citizen-participants as a producers rather than as a consumers. A participant may "put to use" the Town Twinning facilities of travel and activities in his or her own way, regardless of the programme.
The integration of West-Europe after the Second World War was driven by a broad movement aimed at peace, security and prosperity. Organised youth exchange between European cities formed an important part of that movement. This research focuses on young people who, from the 1960s onwards, participated in international exchanges organised by twinned towns, also called jumelage. Friends in a Cold Climate asks about the interactions between young people while taking into account the organisational structures on a municipal level, The project investigates the role of the ideology of a united West-Europe, individual desires for travel and freedom, the upcoming discourse about the Second World War and the influence of the prevalent “counterculture” of that period, thus shedding a light on the formative years of European integration.
