Was it a cheer when the friends from Warcq arrived in Baumholder this year for their Easter visit! This time, the small delegation from France was led by Marie-Annik Pierquin, who was elected mayor in 2020 to succeed her husband. She was accompanied by Bernard Maillard, Chairman of the Friendship Committee in Warcq. For more than two years, there had been no joint meeting of representatives of both cities because of Corona. Again, the joy was not unclouded. Unlike in 2019, our French friends could not personally present the Easter gifts to the children of the kindergartens and primary school. Due to the pandemic, the meeting with the children in the Brühlhalle unfortunately had to be cancelled. However, Mayor Günther Jung was able to welcome representatives of their respective institutions with Anke Georgiadis, Margret Staudt, Barbara Schmitz, Yvonne Müller and Mathias Düwel.

Günther Jung thanked the head of the primary school, Mrs. Georgiadis, for the fact that her children had made decorations for the Christmas tree in Warcq during the Advent season last year. The Chairman of the Partnership Committee, Jürgen Henze, joined in the thanks and pointed out that such actions contribute to the maintenance of friendship even in difficult times. The school children from Warcq had been inspired by the handicrafts of the Baumholderer children. For their part, they made small Easter gifts this year, which headmaster Antoine Warin was able to present to Baumholder Westrich primary school. The French friends handed over the usual Easter gifts to the representatives of schools and kindergartens with the request to convey them to their children with warm Easter greetings.

Günther Jung had come up with a special surprise for his long-standing colleague in the office of mayor, Bernard Pierquin. For each of his 25 years, he presented him with a bottle of beer. He delighted Pierqin’s wife with a bouquet of flowers and wished her every success as mayor. Jürgen Henze joined these wishes on behalf of the Baumholder committee and emphasized that it was the first time that a woman had been elected to the mayor’s office of Warcq.

Ulrike Nagel, the partner of former mayor Luc Pierquin, who had also come to Baumholder, had a lot to do on this day. With her translations from French into German and vice versa, Ulrike Nagel ensured good mutual understanding. The whole thing took place mainly in the Museum Golden Angel, where especially the ladies of the

Partnership committees, Annelie Adam, Laura Schmid, Ingrid Schwerdtner and Gaby Zahler, provided a cozy end to the day with coffee and cake. Due to the snow that had fallen that day, the planned visit to the newly designed area at the pond and a game of boules unfortunately had to be cancelled and postponed to a future visit.

The hope remains that joint meetings can take place more frequently in the coming months and years.