Heide was born in 1947 in Stuttgart, shortly after the war, when there wasn't much money and trips abroad weren't possible. However, a neighbor had a niece in France who couldn't speak a word of German, while she herself couldn't speak a word of French. Despite this, they played together during vacations, which was an unforgettable experience.
She has a sister who is 16 years older. One day, her sister met a Dutch woman on the street who asked for directions. Her sister invited the woman home, and she became like a third daughter in the family. This was her first contact with other countries and cultures.
When the adults were sitting at the table—her parents, uncle, aunt, the children had to leave because the adults were talking. Het father had volunteered for the war. Heide has have only seen photos of him on a horse, always saying that horses are very loyal comrades. She didn't know what he did in the war; it was never discussed.
His youngest brother was also drafted into the Wehrmacht at 19. Her grandmother, was perhaps in the NSDAP, since people always said, "Here come your brown women again," referring to her women's group. Heide doesn’t know how her parents felt about Europe, but living with the French girl who always came in the summer and the Dutch woman , was just a normal thing.
When she was 16, her mother suggested she worked as a counselor at a summer camp. She did this and enjoyed it a lot. At the camp, she met a group from a French partner city, which further sparked her interest in other cultures. After getting married and having a daughter, she began to think about what to do next when she turned 30. She was asked if she wanted to do some volunteer work with the city youth association, and this is how her engagement began.
Otto Weinmann, one of the initiators, once said something along the lines of, "We need to reach out to other countries now." There were meetings of interested people, and from stories and photos, she knowsit started with France. In the beginning, it wasn't much; they were searching for a structure and looking for cities with a similar number of inhabitants. At that time, this was very much in demand because young people couldn't easily go on vacation. Of course, this has changed a lot.
Additionally, the young people often didn't know where these connections came from or the political background behind them. She also remembers welcome parties where city officials were present. In one speech, it was emphasized how important these connections were and how crucial it was to carry them into the partner cities through the youth. In many encounters, people came closer simply through communicating, sharing stories, singing, and dancing, despite language barriers. There were also private conversations, but in the beginning, the young people primarily wanted to meet other young people.
In Esslingen there was a working group for international affairs that not only met for the summer exchange, but also did a lot of other things together. Then there was the so-called roadmap conference. Once a year, delegates from the various parties met and thought about what could be done. The head of the Esllingen organization Otto Weinmann, was like the father of youth exchange for her.
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.
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.
