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115-814: Between 1499 and 1795 the town was controlled by the House of Nassau (as were Breda in the Netherlands, Dillenburg in Germany and Orange in France) which was also the family of the Princes of Orange who at the end of the Napoleonic Wars became in 1815 the kings and queens of the Netherlands after the termination of the Dutch republic at the hands of revolutionary forces in 1795. The most famous representative of

230-490: A "similar attitude towards food," whereas Chicago 's link with Warsaw , Poland began with Chicago's historic Polish community . The twinning of Indianapolis with Monza , Italy, is due to both cities' long association with auto racing . A twin towns program was instituted in the United States in 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a citizen diplomacy initiative. Sister Cities International (SCI)

345-519: A "tuning" partnership based on a shared musical heritage and culture offer, at the initiative of Bristol Mayor George Ferguson . Annecy , France and Nerima , Tokyo have for several years shared a partnership based on their "co-existent animation industry". Toledo, United States twinned with Toledo, Spain in 1931, and was the first city in North America to engage in town twinning. Vancouver, Canada twinned with Odesa, Ukraine in 1944,

460-571: A Bourbon relative of the Châlon dynasty, with the Principality of Orange, so that there were three claimants to the title. The Principality was finally ceded to France under the Treaty of Utrecht that ended the wars with King Louis XIV . Frederick I of Prussia ceded the Principality to France (without surrendering the princely title), though John William Friso of Nassau-Dietz, the other claimant to

575-534: A common etymology . These similarities usually arise from sharing the same or related language or having been a colony or previously conquered. The twinning of towns and cities is sometimes done for political purposes. The Hungarian city Gyöngyös was twinned with the Azerbaijani city of Shusha in 2013, signing the twinning agreement with representatives from the Azerbaijani government; Hungary recognised Shusha as de jure part of Azerbaijan , even though it

690-584: A dynastic hierarchy whereby the Prince of Orange-Nassau-Dietz was recognised as President of the House of Nassau. The Walramian Line concentrated their efforts primarily on their German lands. The exception was Adolf, King of the Romans ( c.  1255 – 2 July 1298) who was the count of Nassau from about 1276 and the elected king of Germany from 1292 until his deposition by the prince-electors in 1298. He

805-575: A factory in the Republic of Karelia in Russia and offered the same profit-sharing plan to its Russian employees. China's sister city relationships are managed by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries , a united front organization. Sister city initiatives are an increasingly widespread mechanism for Chinese public diplomacy . From the early 2000s until 2024,

920-724: A hereditary dynasty in an age that favoured hereditary rule. The Stuarts and the Bourbons came to power at the same time as the Oranges, the Vasas and Oldenburgs were able to establish a hereditary kingship in Sweden and Denmark, and the Hohenzollerns were able to set themselves on a course to the rule of Germany. The House of Orange was no less gifted than those houses, in fact, some might argue more so, as their ranks included some

1035-401: A hierarchical relationship. In the 2010s, Tokyo began to actively promote 'city diplomacy' with other global cities at the initiative of governor Yoichi Masuzoe . Relationships between communities can also arise because of shared names; they may be named after one community (as in the case of Córdoba ), they may share names (as in the case of Santiago de Compostela ), or their names may have

1150-526: A landowner in Prüm , and who is the oldest known possible ancestor of the House of Nassau. Dudo is mentioned as Tuto de Lurinburg between 1093 and 1117. Dudo built the castle of Laurenburg on the Lahn a few kilometers upriver from Nassau around 1090 as the seat of his lordship. He is first mentioned in a document in the purported founding-charter of Maria Laach Abbey in 1093 (although many historians consider

1265-466: A line died out. This yielded an older Nassau-Idstein line from 1480 to 1509, later merging once again with Nassau-Wiesbaden and Nassau-Weilburg and, from 1629 to 1721, a newer Nassau-Idstein line. In 1721, Idstein passed to Nassau-Ottweiler, and in 1728 to Nassau-Usingen, thereby losing its status as a residence town, although it became the seat of the Nassau Archives and of an Oberamt . In

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1380-611: A link that still exists. Since 9 April 1956 Rome and Paris have been exclusively and reciprocally twinned with each other, following the motto: "Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris." Within Europe, town twinning is supported by the European Union. The support scheme was established in 1989. In 2003 an annual budget of about € 12 million was allocated to about 1,300 projects. The Council of European Municipalities and Regions also works closely with

1495-436: A new hospital on the site. This new building were projected to be ready by 2023 in an agreement in principle between "stad Diest" and the "vzw Vereniging Diestse Ziekenhuizen". These plans were dropped in 2017 and a new destination is being sought for this listed site. The citadel is home to various sports clubs, cultural associations, educational institutions and youth work. The municipality has made plans for better access with

1610-523: A new staircase and elevator. This should also make the citadel more attractive to tourists. In cooperation with private parties, the municipality will make plans for the further development of the citadel. Diest is twinned with: House of Nassau The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe . It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle , located in present-day Nassau , Rhineland-Palatinate , Germany . With

1725-523: A portrait of René of Orange-Nassau and his wife Anna of Lorraine. The church of St. Sulpitius is also located on the Grote Markt. It was built in 1417-1534 from brown sandstone, typical of this period. The grave of Philip of Orange can be found here. After the death of his father William I of Orange-Nassau, he became Lord of the city. In the turret on the church a famous carillon made by Pieter Hemony in 1671. Town Centre: The house "Hof van Nassau" in

1840-527: A scale. It was natural for foreign ambassadors and dignitaries to present themselves to him and consult with him as well as to the States General to which they were officially credited. The marriage policy of the princes, allying themselves twice with the Royal Stuarts, also gave them acceptance into the royal caste of rulers. The house of Orange-Nassau was relatively unlucky in establishing

1955-409: A sort of international relations that works in parallel to the conventional system involving embassies, ambassadors, and treaties negotiated at the level of nation states . According to Rodrigo Tavares , the earliest formal attempts to establish city diplomacy across national boundaries took place in the 19th century. Only a handful of cities were involved in the 19th-century efforts; it was not until

2070-546: A twin town. Twinned towns are often chosen because of similarities between them; thus about 15 towns in Wales are twinned with towns in Brittany , and Oxford is with Bonn , Leiden , Grenoble and other university cities. In Italy, two sets of twins are Rovigo with Viernheim , and Bedford with Tulcea . Many former West German cities are twinned with former East German cities; these twinning links were established before

2185-415: Is in a separate smaller painting (above its main one) showing a beech tree, intended as a symbol of prosperity and from which Carshalton Beeches in the borough derives its name. Another example of the use of public art is the wall sculpture of the partner cities of Munich , Germany. A recent study has concluded that geographical distance has very little, if any, influence upon communities' selections of

2300-413: Is surrounded by high ramparts, which are partially preserved. The Grote Markt (Grand Square) is the central square of Diest and is surrounded by picturesque houses from the 16th to 18th Century. The city hall, which was designed in the 18th century by Willem Ignatius Kerricx , is also located here. In its basement is located the city museum. Exhibits in the museum include the armour of Philip of Orange and

2415-447: Is twinned with Dorval, Quebec ; Huai'an, China , and Neyagawa, Osaka , Japan. Town twinning begins for a variety of reasons. Generally, partner towns have similar demographics and size. They may arise from business connections, travel, similar industries, diaspora communities, or shared history. For example, the partnership between Portland, Oregon and Bologna , Italy arose from shared industries in biotechnology and education, and

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2530-519: The Count of Merenberg non-dynastic; by extension, this would indicate that (according to Luxembourgish laws regarding the House of Nassau) this branch would assume the Salic headship of the house in 1965, following the death of the last male Count of Merenberg. The partition of the county of Nassau between Otto, and his older brother Walram (above), resulted in a permanent division between the 2 branches of

2645-530: The Nassau Family Pact . Adolph died in 1905 and was succeeded by his son, William IV . and from 1890 the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg . The branch of Nassau-Weilburg ultimately became rulers of Luxembourg . Count of Merenberg (German: Graf von Merenberg ) is a hereditary title of nobility that was bestowed in 1868 by the reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont , George Victor , upon

2760-585: The Taunus as a fief under the Archbishopric of Mainz . This was part of the inheritance of Count Udalrich of Idstein-Eppstein. He also received the Vogtship of the richly endowed Benedictine Bleidenstadt Abbey (in present-day Taunusstein ). The Counts of Laurenburg and Nassau expanded their authority under the brothers Robert ( Ruprecht ) I (1123–1154) and Arnold I of Laurenburg (1123–1148). Robert

2875-723: The World Economic Forum . In addition to C40, other organisations facilitating city diplomacy include the World Cities Summit , City Mayors Foundation , the Smart City Expo World Congress , the Strong City Network and 100 Resilient Cities. As of 2016, there were over 125 such multilateral networks and forums to facilitate international collaboration between different municipal authorities. A Bill introduced in

2990-405: The morganatic wife and male-line descendants of Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau (1832–1905), younger brother of Adolf, last Duke of Nassau/Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Nicholas married Natalia Alexandrovna Pushkina (1836–1913), former wife of Russian general Mikhail Leontievich von Dubelt. In 1907 Grand Duke Adolph declared the family non-dynastic/ morganatic . Had they not been excluded from

3105-580: The "Dukes of Nassau", forming the independent state of Nassau with its capital at Wiesbaden; this territory today mainly lies in the German Federal State of Hesse , and partially in the neighbouring State of Rhineland-Palatinate . The Duchy was annexed in 1866 after the Austrian-Prussian War as an ally of Austria by Prussia . It was subsequently incorporated into the newly created Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau . Today,

3220-620: The 1170s, the Count of Nassau , Walram I, received the area around Wiesbaden as a fiefdom . In 1232, Wiesbaden became a Reichsstadt , an imperial city, of the Holy Roman Empire. Wiesbaden returned to the control of the House of Nassau in 1270 under Count Walram II, Count of Nassau . However, Wiesbaden and the castle at Sonnenberg were again destroyed in 1283 in conflict with Eppstein . Walram's son and successor Adolf was, as said above, king of Germany from 1292 until 1298. In 1329, under Adolf's son Gerlach I of Nassau-Weilburg

3335-526: The 1990s, when the Nottingham City Council in the UK considered installing a tram network, it consulted experts from its twin city of Karlsruhe , which has one of the most extensive and efficient tram networks in Germany. With assistance from Karlsruhe's specialist engineers, Nottingham completed its second tram line in 2013. In 2014, Bristol and New Orleans announced their intention to form

3450-533: The 2019 session of the US Congress would have legislated for a City and State Diplomacy Act to create a new Office of Subnational Diplomacy at the Department of State . H.R.3571 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): City and State Diplomacy Act. Recently, the field of city diplomacy has taken a step beyond city-to-city exchanges to target the facilitation of dialogue between cities and multilateral organs, such as

3565-449: The 9th century, the modern concept was first established and adopted worldwide during World War II . Throughout history, many cities have participated in various cultural exchanges and similar activities that might resemble a sister-city or twin-city relationship, but the first officially documented case of such a relationship was a signed agreement between the leaders of the cities of Toledo, Ohio and Toledo, Spain in 1931. However,

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3680-483: The Battle of Stalingrad. The twinning between Coventry and Stalingrad was formalized in 1944 and, after the end of the war, similar links were established to foster friendship and understanding among former foes as an act of peace and reconciliation, with new twinnings between Coventry and German cities: Kiel as early as in 1947 and Dresden in 1956. In 1957, Coventry was officially twinned with Belgrade, even though

3795-618: The Benedictine All Saints Abbey in Schaffhausen. About 1126, his son, Rupert I, Count of Laurenburg , the Vogt of Lipporn , established it as a separate and independent abbey. The Romanesque buildings were constructed between 1126 and 1145, presumably with a three-nave basilica . The abbey included both a monastery for monks and a small, separate one for nuns. In 1122, Dudo received the castle of Idstein in

3910-650: The Bishop of Worms until 1159 under the rule of Rupert's son, Walram. By 1159, the County of Nassau effectively claimed rights of taxation, toll collection, and justice, at which point it can be considered to become a state. The Nassauers held the territory between the Taunus and the Westerwald at the lower and middle Lahn. By 1128, they acquired the bailiwick of the Bishopric of Worms , which had numerous rights in

4025-535: The Citadel was the dominant final piece in the transformation of Diest into a fortified city, as the city walls and gates had been built prior. The whole structure is purely geared towards military functionality, with the only embellishment being the bluestone gate in neoclassical style. The citadel is located on the hills on the Demer . Major Laurillard-Fallot (1787-1842) was responsible for its design. The structure has

4140-784: The Countship of Nassau in Weilburg (Nassau-Weilburg), which existed to 1816. The Walram line also received the lordship of Merenberg in 1328 and Saarbrücken (by marriage) in 1353. The sovereigns of this house afterwards ruled the Duchy of Nassau from its establishment in 1806 as part of the Confederation of the Rhine (jointly with Nassau-Usingen until 1816). The last reigning Duke, Adolph , became Duke of Nassau in August 1839, following

4255-548: The County of Nassau-Siegen and Nassau-Dillenburg . The boundary line was essentially the Lahn, with Otto receiving the northern part of the county with the cities of Siegen , Dillenburg , Herborn and Haiger and Walram retaining the section south of the river, including the cities of Weilburg and Idstein . In 1255, Henry II's sons, Walram II and Otto I , split the Nassau possessions. The descendants of Walram became known as

4370-615: The Diestsesteenweg defence works, Fort Leopold, the Schaffensepoort, and the guard-locks of the Zichem and Leuven gates, it provides a good idea of the military architecture of the second quarter of the 19th century. In 2011, the citadel became vacant. The future of the citadel has not yet been determined. The city of Diest started looking for a new destination for the site. In 2012, the city council of Diest decided to build

4485-460: The Dutch city was still occupied by the German Army in the final months of the war, and children from each city took part in exchanges in 1945 and 1946. Similarly, in 1947, Bristol Corporation (later Bristol City Council) sent five "leading citizens" on a goodwill mission to Hanover . Reading in 1947 was the first British town to form links with a former "enemy" city – Düsseldorf ,

4600-651: The French town; formal twinning charters were not exchanged until 1986. The practice was continued after the Second World War as a way to promote mutual understanding and cross-border projects of mutual benefit. For example, Coventry twinned with Stalingrad and later with Dresden as an act of peace and reconciliation, all three cities having been heavily bombed during the war. The city of Bath formed an " Alkmaar Adoption committee" in March 1945, when

4715-523: The House extinct. The Grand Duke of Luxembourg uses "Duke of Nassau" as his secondary title and a title of pretense to the dignity of Chief of the House of Nassau (being the most senior member of the eldest branch of the House), but not to lay any territorial claims to the former Duchy of Nassau which is now part of the Federal Republic of Germany . The area that came to be the county of Nassau

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4830-696: The House of Nassau and thereby, Wiesbaden, received the right of coinage from Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Bavarian . In 1355, the County of Nassau-Weilburg was divided among the sons of Gerlach. The County of Nassau's holdings would be subdivided many times among heirs, with the parts being brought together again whenever a line died out. Wiesbaden became the seat of the County of Nassau-Wiesbaden under Count Adolf I (1307–1370), eldest son of Gerlach. It eventually fell back to Nassau-Weilburg in 1605. Philipp I ruled both Nassau-Saarbrücken and Nassau-Weilburg and in 1393 inherited through his wife Johanna of Hohenlohe

4945-532: The House of Nassau. He died in 1965 From the documentary mention in 1102 until 1721, Idstein was, with interruptions, residence of the Counts of Nassau-Idstein and other Nassau lines. One of the Counts was, as said above, Adolf of Germany , the Holy Roman Emperor from 1292 to 1298. The Nassau Counts' holdings were subdivided many times among heirs, with the parts being brought together again whenever

5060-591: The House of Orange was William I of Orange-Nassau. Also known as William the Silent (1533-1584), who led the revolt of the United Provinces against Spain. His son Philip William - who unlike his father remained a pious Catholic throughout his life - is buried in Diest. In his will Philip William commanded that the city's parish church of Saint Sulpice should celebrate a yearly Requiem Mass for his soul. Diest

5175-526: The Lahn and Sieg rivers. Northeast and southeast of it was the lands of the House of Hesse . With the fall of the Hohenstaufen in the first half of the 13th century royal power within Franconia evaporated and the former stem duchy fragmented into separate independent states. Nassau emerged as one of those independent states as part of the Holy Roman Empire. Nassau, originally a county, but part of

5290-481: The Netherlands and by the Great Powers which had guaranteed Luxembourg's neutrality in 1867. Nonetheless, Marie-Adélaïde did succeed her father, to become Luxembourg's first female monarch, in 1912. She, in turn, abdicated in favour of her sister Charlotte , whose descendants have reigned over Luxembourg since then. Georg Nikolaus died in 1948. His son Georg Michael Alexander was the last legitimate descendant of

5405-573: The Netherlands, the term is jumelage , partnerstad or stedenband ("city bond" when providing mutual support). In Greece, the word αδελφοποίηση ( adelphopiisi  – fraternisation) has been adopted. In Iceland, the terms vinabæir (friend towns) and vinaborgir (friend cities) are used. In the former Soviet Bloc , "twin towns" and "twin cities" were used, and in Russian, they use города-побратимы (sworn brother cities). The Americas, South Asia, and Australasia use

5520-557: The Netherlands. Justinus van Nassau was the only extramarital child of William of Orange . He was a Dutch army commander known for unsuccessfully defending Breda against the Spanish , and the depiction of his surrender on the famous picture by Diego Velázquez , The Surrender of Breda . Louis of Nassau, Lord of De Lek and Beverweerd was a younger illegitimate son of Prince Maurice and Margaretha van Mechelen . His descendants were later created Counts of Nassau-LaLecq. One of his sons

5635-490: The Netherlands. First, he was the traditional leader of the nation in war and in rebellion against Spain. He was uniquely able to transcend the local issues of the cities, towns and provinces. He was also a sovereign ruler in his own right (see Prince of Orange article). This gave him a great deal of prestige, even in a republic. He was the center of a real court like the Stuarts and Bourbons, French speaking, and extravagant to

5750-786: The Roman-German royal dignity after the expiration the Hohenstaufen . The Nassaus, however, were not on the imperial throne long enough to establish themselves in larger landholdings to increase their hereditary power such as the Luxemburgers did in Bohemia or the Habsburgs did in Austria . After Gerlach's death, the possessions of the Walram line were divided into Nassau-Weilburg and Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein. Count Walram II began

5865-574: The Scottish village of Dull and the US town of Boring, Oregon , agreed to twin their municipalities to promote tourism in both places, playing on their names. Recently some towns have made novelty twinning arrangements with fictional or virtual locations. Wincanton , England is partnered with Ankh-Morpork from Terry Pratchett 's Discworld books . Town twinning has increasingly been used to form strategic international business links. For example, in

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5980-445: The US). In Japan, the international city relations may be split into multiple terms, such as Sister Cities, Friendship Cooperation Cities, Business Partner Cities (BPC), Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Sister Ports / Friendship Ports, etc. China mostly uses the term "friendship cooperation cities" rather than "sister cities", as the Chinese words for sisters, "姐妹" (reading: jiěmèi, literally elder sister and younger sister), could imply

6095-407: The United Kingdom, the term "twin towns" is most commonly used; the term "sister cities" is generally used for agreements with towns and cities in the Americas. In mainland Europe, the most commonly used terms are "twin towns", "partnership towns", "partner towns", and "friendship towns". The European Commission uses the term "twinned towns" and refers to the process as "town twinning". Spain uses

6210-706: The United Nations. Not only cities and towns, but also provinces, states, territories, and regions enter into twinning agreements. For example, the Canadian province of Alberta has "sister province" agreements with Gangwon, South Korea (since 1974), Hokkaido, Japan (since 1980), Heilongjiang, China (1981), Jalisco, Mexico (1999), Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine (2004), Lviv, Ukraine (2005), Guangdong, China (2017), and California, United States (2018), as well as policy-oriented (as opposed to economic and cultural) agreements with Nevada, United States (since 2013), Missouri, United States (2015), and Texas, United States (2018). The earliest known town twinning in Europe

6325-460: The Walram Line, which became important in the Countship of Nassau and Luxembourg . The descendants of Otto became known as the Ottonian Line, which would inherit parts of Nassau, France and the Netherlands . Both lines would often themselves be divided over the next few centuries. In 1783, the heads of various branches of the House of Nassau sealed the Nassau Family Pact ( Erbverein ) to regulate future succession in their states, and to establish

6440-427: The appearances, which increasingly tended to upset the ruling regents of the towns and cities. On being offered the dukedom of Gelderland by the States of that province, William III let the offer lapse as liable to raise too much opposition in the other provinces. The main house of Orange-Nassau also spawned several illegitimate branches. These branches contributed to the political and economic history of England and

6555-428: The area, and thus created a link between their heritage at the lower Lahn and their possessions near Siegen . In the middle of the 12th century, this relationship was strengthened by the acquisition of parts of the Hesse-Thüringen feudal kingdom, namely the Herborner Mark , the Kalenberger Zent and the Court of Heimau ( Löhnberg ). Closely linked to this was the "Lordship of Westerwald", also in Nassau's possession at

6670-417: The centre is worth a visit, along with the Gothic church of Our Lady (built 1253-1288) which has an impressive pulpit and high altar. In the Sint Jan Berchmansstraat is the "Gulden Maan" , the house where St. John Berchmans was born. The Citadel of Diest  [ nl ] is the only brick citadel left in Flanders. The citadel was built between 1845 and 1843 on the Allerheiligenberg. The construction of

6785-402: The city, and 63 emergency houses were built there. Three years later, all kinds of renovation works to prepare the citadel as accommodation for the First Parachute Battalion began. They arrived on 2 August 1953. In 1968, the two city fronts of the citadel were partially demolished to make way for new buildings. Since 1996 the citadel has been a protected monument. Together with the other parts of

6900-470: The commission (DG Education and Culture) to promote modern, high quality twinning initiatives and exchanges that involve all sections of the community. It has launched a website dedicated to town twinning. As of 1995, the European Union had more than 7,000 bilateral relationships involving almost 10,000 European municipalities, primarily French (2837 twinnings) and German (2485 twinnings). Public art has been used to celebrate twin town links, for instance in

7015-431: The county was split into three parts, the three lines (Ottweiler, Saarbrücken proper and Kirchheim) were all extinct in 1574 and all of Nassau-Saarbrücken was united with Nassau-Weilburg until 1629. This new division, however, was not executed until the Thirty Years' War was over and in 1651 three counties were established: Nassau-Idstein , Nassau-Weilburg and Nassau-Saarbrücken. Only eight years later, Nassau-Saarbrücken

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7130-414: The death of his father William . The Duchy was annexed to Prussia in 1866 after Austria's defeat in the Austro-Prussian War . From 1815 to 1839, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was ruled by the kings of the Netherlands as a province of the Netherlands . Following the Treaty of London (1839) , the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg became independent but remained in personal union with the Netherlands . Following

7245-400: The death of his sons, the Dutch king William III had no male heirs to succeed him. In the Netherlands, females were allowed to succeed to the throne. Luxembourg, however, followed Salic law which barred females from succession. Thus, upon King William III's death, the crown of the Netherlands passed to his only daughter, Wilhelmina , while that of Luxembourg passed to Adolph in accordance with

7360-453: The document to be fabricated). In 1159, Nassau Castle became the ruling seat, and the house is now named after this castle. In a charter dated 1134 (after his death) he is mentioned as Count of Laurenburg. In 1117, Dudo donated land to Schaffhausen Abbey for construction of a monastery in Lipporn. Around 1117, Dudo, Count of Laurenburg founded at Lipporn a Benedictine priory dedicated and named for Saint Florin of Koblenz , and dependent on

7475-403: The duchy of Franconia, developed on the lower Lahn river in what is known today as Rhineland-Palatinate . The town of Nassau was founded in 915. As noted above, Dudo of Laurenburg held Nassau as a fiefdom as granted by the Bishopric of Worms . His son, Rupert , built the Nassau Castle there around 1125, declaring himself "Count of Nassau". This title was not officially acknowledged by

7590-407: The elder (Walramian) branch, that gave rise to the German king Adolf , and the younger (Ottonian) branch, that gave rise to the Princes of Orange and the monarchs of the Netherlands . At the end of the Holy Roman Empire and the Napoleonic Wars , the Walramian branch had inherited or acquired all the Nassau ancestral lands and proclaimed themselves, with the permission of the Congress of Vienna,

7705-421: The elder branch of the Ottonian Line. The connection was via Engelbert I , who offered his services to the Duke of Burgundy , married in 1403 Johanna van Polanen , the heiress of the barony of Breda , the lordship of den Lek and other lands in the duchy of Brabant at the mouth of the Rhine delta and the Scheldt river. As the Scheldt was the main trade artery in the Burgundian / Habsburg Netherlands during

7820-469: The fall of the Hohenstaufen in the first half of the 13th century royal power within Franconia evaporated and the former stem duchy fragmented into separate independent states. Nassau emerged as one of those independent states as part of the Holy Roman Empire. The lords of Nassau were originally titled "Count of Nassau", subject only to the Emperor , and then elevated to the princely class as "Princely Counts". Early on they divided into two main branches:

7935-410: The fall of the Iron Curtain . Famous examples are the partnerships of Hanover and Leipzig , both of which have important trade fair grounds , or between Hamburg and Dresden. The first US-German town twinning was in 1947 between Worthington, Minnesota and Crailsheim . St Petersburg in Russia holds the record for the largest number of partnership arrangements with other communities. In June 2012,

8050-420: The family. The Walramian branch tended to concentrate on their German lands, while the Ottonians, as we will see below, established themselves in the Netherlands and became great magnates, leaders of the Dutch Revolt , the stadtholders of the Dutch Republican government , and eventual kings of the Netherlands . This, however, was not before many divisions and reunitings. The first was between sons of Otto, with

8165-411: The female line from the House of Nassau. According to German tradition, the family name is passed on only in the male line of succession. The House would therefore, from this German perspective, have been extinct since 1985. However, both Dutch and Luxembourgish monarchial traditions, constitutional rules and legislation in that matter differ from the German tradition, and thus neither country considers

8280-472: The foremost statesmen and captains of the time. Although the institutions of the United Provinces became more republican and entrenched as time went on, William the Silent had been offered the countship of Holland and Zealand, and only his assassination prevented his accession to those offices. This fact did not go unforgotten by his successors. Besides showing the relationships among the family,

8395-466: The form of seven mural paintings in the centre of the town of Sutton , Greater London. The five main paintings show a number of the main features of the London Borough of Sutton and its four twin towns, along with the heraldic shield of each above the other images. Each painting also features a plant as a visual representation of its town's environmental awareness . In the case of Sutton this

8510-557: The genocide in 2016, some twin agreements such as Edirne – Haskovo were terminated by Turkey. China manages sister city relationships through the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC). In April 2019, CPAFFC president Li Xiaolin said, “Friendship city relations have become one of the important channels to implement the Belt and Road Initiative .” In January 2020, Shanghai canceled its sister city relationship with Prague after Prague's mayor signed

8625-478: The independent and sovereign Principality of Orange from his mother's brother, Philibert of Châlon . As the first Nassau to be the Prince of Orange, René could have used "Orange-Nassau" as his new family name. However, his uncle, in his will, had stipulated that René should continue the use of the name Châlon-Orange. At René's death in 1544, he left all his lands to his cousin William of Nassau-Dillenburg, including

8740-595: The link actually dates back to 1953 when then Yugoslav Ambassador visited Coventry and offered a gift of timber from his native country for use in the new Civic Theatre, which when finished was named Belgrade Theatre . The purpose of twinnings was then expanded to encourage trade and tourism or to reflect other links, such as towns sharing the same name or migration links. By the 2000s, town twinning became increasingly used to form strategic international business links among member cities, and may include localities of any scope such as villages, prefectures, or countries. In

8855-582: The lordships Kirchheimbolanden and Stauf. He also received half of Nassau-Ottweiler in 1393 and other territories later during his reign. After his death in 1429 the territories around Saarbrücken and along the Lahn were kept united until 1442, when they were again divided among his sons into the lines Nassau-Saarbrücken (west of the Rhine) and Nassau-Weilburg (east of the Rhine), the so-called Younger line of Nassau-Weilburg. In 1507, Count John Ludwig I significantly enlarged his territory. After his death in 1544

8970-532: The low countries and Germany, but not the Principality of Orange itself. Orange had been invaded and captured by King Louis XIV in 1672 during the Franco-Dutch War , and again in August 1682, but William did not concede his claim to rule, and recovered the principality via the peace treaties. Louis again invaded and captured the principality in 1702. He enfeoffed François Louis, Prince of Conti ,

9085-504: The main power base being centered around the caste of Dillenburg: In 1303, Otto's sons divided the possessions of the Ottonian line. Henry received Nassau-Siegen, John received Nassau-Dillenburg and Emicho I received Nassau-Hadamar. After John's death. Nassau-Dillenburg fell to Henry. The Ottonian portion of the county of Nassau was divided and sub-divided, as shown in the genealogical charts below, several times, so that each son of

9200-593: The modern concept of town twinning appeared during the Second World War. More specifically, it was inspired by the bombing of Coventry on 14 November 1940, known as the Coventry Blitz . First conceived by the then Mayor of Coventry , Alfred Robert Grindlay , culminating in his renowned telegram to the people of Stalingrad (now Volgograd ) in 1942, the idea emerged as a way of establishing solidarity links between cities in allied countries that went through similar devastating events. The comradeship between

9315-583: The number of China's sister city relationships doubled. More than one-third of Chinese sister city relationships are with sister cities in the east Asia Pacific region. Town twinning is supported in Japan by the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations , a joint agency of local governments established by the Japanese government in 1988 (similar to Sister Cities International , its counterpart in

9430-560: The previous count would have a portion. Eventually, these lines would all die out in favor of the main branch of the family, which had established themselves in The Netherlands. The counts of Nassau in Beilstein were involved mostly in local/regional German affairs in their area of the Rhine. In 1343, Nassau-Beilstein was split off from Nassau-Dillenburg. After John III's death, Nassau-Beilstein fell back to Nassau-Dillenburg. It

9545-408: The principality, did not concur. Only with the treaty of partition in 1732 did John William Friso's successor William IV, Prince of Orange, renounce all his claims to the territory, but again (like Frederick I) he did not renounce his claim to the title. In the same treaty an agreement was made between both claimants, stipulating that both houses be allowed to use the title. John William Friso, who also

9660-522: The railroad but suffered the same fate on April 20, 1906. After the declassification, a disciplinary company was stationed in the citadel. From 1930 to 1940, it housed a depot of the Third Army Corps. The Germans used the citadel during World War II , and after the surrender, the Allies used it for a short time as a prison. In 1946, National Defense Department placed the citadel at the disposal of

9775-463: The shape of a bastioned pentagon with sides of about 190 meters. The whole was surrounded by a dry moat and in front of the gate was a drawbridge . The citadel is located on a site of 28ha and the buildings themselves cover an area of 10,200 m. On August 26, 1895, the Royal Decree appeared declassifying the core fortress. The citadel served for a few more years as a barrage fortress to protect

9890-466: The son of Robert I's brother, Arnold I . However, Erich Brandenburg in his Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen states that it is most likely that Gerhard was Robert I's son, because Gerard was the name of Beatrix of Limburg's maternal grandfather. As noted above, the county of Nassau was part of the stem Duchy of Franconia . It branched off northeast from the Rhine River and followed the course of

10005-589: The sovereign principality of Orange . This "William I of Orange", in English better known as William the Silent , became the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau and the leader of the Dutch Revolt that lead to the formation of the Dutch Republic as a separate sovereign nation. Within the government of the Dutch Republic , The Prince of Orange was also not just another noble among equals in

10120-669: The succession, they would have inherited the headship of the house in 1912. Georg Nickolaus would have thus become the reigning Grand Duke of Luxembourg . In 1907, William IV, obtained passage of a law in Luxembourg confirming the exclusion of the Merenbergs from succession to the grand ducal throne. Georg Nikolaus's protests against the Luxembourg Diet 's confirmation of the succession rights of William IV's daughter, Princess Marie-Adélaïde , were expected to be taken up by

10235-401: The term Nassau is used in Germany as a name for a geographical, historical and cultural region, but no longer has any political meaning. All Dutch and Luxembourgish monarchs since 1815 have been senior members of the House of Nassau. However, in 1890 in the Netherlands and in 1912 in Luxembourg, the male lines of heirs to the two thrones became extinct, so that since then, they have descended in

10350-483: The term "ciudades hermanadas", which means "sister cities". Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic each use Partnerstadt (German), miasto partnerskie (Polish) and partnerské město (Czech), which translate as "partner town" or "partner city". France uses ville jumelée (jumelage, twinned town or city), and Italy has gemellaggio (twinning) and comune gemellato (twinned municipality). In

10465-523: The term "sister cities" or "twin cities". In China, the term is 友好城市 (yǒuhǎo chéngshì – friendly cities). Sometimes, other government bodies enter into a twinning relationship, such as the agreement between the provinces of Hainan in China and Jeju in South Korea. The Douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union. Though

10580-454: The term is often used interchangeably with the term "friendship city", this may mean a relationship with a more limited scope in comparison to a sister city relationship, and friendship city relationships are mayor-to-mayor agreements. City diplomacy is a form of paradiplomacy that involves discussions between officials and residents of different cities. Often these cities will be located in different countries. As such, city diplomacy involves

10695-595: The time, the Netherand Nassaus benefitted from the commerce. These lands formed the core of the Nassau's Dutch possessions. The importance of the Nassaus grew throughout the 15th and 16th century. Henry III of Nassau-Breda was appointed stadtholder of Holland , Zeeland and Utrecht by Emperor Charles V in the beginning of the 16th century. Henry married Claudia of Châlon-Orange from French Burgundy in 1515. Their son René of Chalon inherited in 1530

10810-485: The time. At the end of the 12th century, the House acquired the Reichshof Wiesbaden , an important base in the southwest. In 1255, after the Counts of Nassau acquired the estates of Weilburg , the sons of Count Henry II divided Nassau for the first time. Walram II received the county of Nassau-Weilburg . From 1328 on, his younger brother, Otto I , held the estates north of the Lahn river, namely

10925-401: The tree above then also points out an extraordinary run of bad luck. In the 211 years from the death of William the Silent to the conquest by France, there was only one time that a son directly succeeded his father as Prince of Orange, Stadholder and Captain-General without a minority (William II). When the Oranges were in power, they also tended to settle for the actualities of power, rather than

11040-418: The turn of the millennium that it became much more common. The first priority of those carrying out city diplomacy typically overlaps with the core aims of municipal government – improving the lives of local residents. Yet they will often collaborate with peers in other cities to work on issues of planet-wide concern, such as efforts to address climate change . The phrase "city diplomacy" is formally used in

11155-573: The two cities continued, when again in response to the Battle of Stalingrad , 830 women in Coventry – led by the subsequent Mayor Emily Smith – had their names embroidered on a tablecloth along with the words "Little help is better than a lot of pity" and sent it, along with money (each donated six pence), to the people of Stalingrad. The tablecloth can now be seen at the Panorama Museum of

11270-826: The workings of the United Cities and Local Governments and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group , and is recognised by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy . A March 2014 debate in the British House of Lords acknowledged the evolution of town twinning into city diplomacy, particularly in matters of trade and tourism, but also in culture and post-conflict reconciliation. The importance of cities developing "their own foreign economic policies on trade, foreign investment, tourism and attracting foreign talent" has also been highlighted by

11385-408: Was a famous English diplomat and a statesman. With the death of William III , the legitimate direct male line of William the Silent became extinct and thereby the first House of Orange-Nassau. John William Friso, the senior agnatic descendant of William the Silent's brother and a cognatic descendant of Frederick Henry, grandfather of William III, inherited the princely title and all the possessions in

11500-587: Was a son of Rupert (German: Ruprecht ), the Archbishop of Mainz 's Vogt in Siegerland . Dudo was himself lord or Vogt of Lipporn and Miehlen and owned large parts of the lands of Lipporn/ Laurenburg . There are more persons known who, as owners of the lands of Lipporn /Laurenburg (and thus the predecessors of Dudo), probably also were his ancestors. The first is a certain Drutwin mentioned in 881 as

11615-498: Was again divided into: In 1735, Nassau-Usingen was divided again into Nassau-Usingen and Nassau-Saarbrücken. In 1797 Nassau-Usingen finally inherited Nassau-Saarbrücken, it was (re-)unified with Nassau-Weilburg and raised to the Duchy of Nassau in 1806. The first Duke of Nassau was Frederick August of Nassau-Usingen who died in 1816. Wilhelm, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg inherits the Duchy of Nassau. But, territories of Nassau Saarbrücken

11730-576: Was between Paderborn , Germany, and Le Mans , France, in 836. Starting in 1905, Keighley in West Yorkshire, England, had a twinning arrangement with French communities Suresnes and Puteaux . The first recorded modern twinning agreement was between Keighley and Poix-du-Nord in Nord, France, in 1920 following the end of the World War I . This was initially referred to as an adoption of

11845-574: Was controlled at the time and until 2020 by the military forces of Armenia and the unrecognised Republic of Artsakh . An attempt was made in 2003 by Preston city councillors in England to twin with the Palestinian town of Nablus in the name of solidarity. Turkey bans partnerships with any city in a country that recognizes the Armenian genocide . As a result, when Bulgaria recognized

11960-426: Was divided again into Nassau-Usingen and Nassau-Saarbrücken. In 1797 Nassau-Usingen inherited Nassau-Saarbrücken. In 1816, Nassau-Usingen merged with Nassau-Weilburg to form the Duchy of Nassau . See " Dukes of Nassau " above. Following Frederick Augustus' death, the princely title was adopted (in pretense) by his half brother through an unequal marriage, Karl Philip. As head of the House in 1907, Wilhelm IV declared

12075-442: Was divided in 1629 into the lines of Nassau-Weilburg , Nassau-Idstein and Nassau-Saarbrücken that was divided only 30 years later in 1659. The emerging counties were Nassau-Saarbrücken, Nassau-Ottweiler and Nassau-Usingen. At the beginning of the 18th century, three of the Nassau lines died out and Nassau-Usingen became their successor (1721 Nassau-Idstein, 1723 Nassau-Ottweiler und 1728 Nassau-Saarbrücken). In 1735 Nassau-Usingen

12190-509: Was never crowned by the pope, which would have secured him the imperial title . He was the first physically and mentally healthy ruler of the Holy Roman Empire ever to be deposed without a papal excommunication . Adolf died shortly afterwards in the Battle of Göllheim fighting against his successor Albert of Habsburg . He was the second in the succession of so-called count-kings of several rivalling comital houses striving after

12305-421: Was occupied by France in 1793 and was annexed as Sarre department in 1797. Finally County of Nassau-Saarbrücken was part of Prussia in 1814. After Henry Louis's death, Nassau-Saarbrücken fell to Charles William, Prince of Nassau-Usingen until Adolph came of age in 1805. The origin of the county lies in the medieval county of Weilnau that was acquired by the counts of Nassau-Weilburg in 1602. That county

12420-580: Was originally a program of the National League of Cities , but it became a separate corporation in 1967 due to the growth and popularity of the program. Twin town cultural events include the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., honoring Washington's twin relationship with Tokyo City . Many twinned towns developed business agreements with their partners. For example, Vermont 's Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream company opened

12535-406: Was part of the Duchy of Franconia . When Franconia fragmented in the early 13th century with the fall of the Hohenstaufen , Nassau emerged as an independent state as part of the Holy Roman Empire. Count Dudo-Henry of Laurenburg ( c.  1060  – c.  1123 ) ( German : Dudo von Laurenburg ; Latin : Tuto de Lurinburg ) is considered the founder of the House of Nassau. Dudo

12650-775: Was split off again in 1607 (see below) for George , who inherited the rest of Nassau-Dillenburg in 1620. The branch of Nassau-Siegen was a collateral line of the House of Nassau, and ruled in Siegen . The first Count of Nassau-Siegen was Henry I, Count of Nassau-Siegen (d. 1343), the elder son of Otto I, Count of Nassau . His son Otto II, Count of Nassau-Siegen ruled also in Dillenburg . In 1328, John, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg died unmarried and childless, and Dillenburg fell to Henry I of Nassau-Siegen. For counts of Nassau-Siegen in between 1343 and 1606, see " Counts of Nassau-Dillenburg " above. The House of Orange-Nassau stems from

12765-570: Was the Prince of Nassau-Dietz, founded thereby the second House of Orange-Nassau (the suffix name "Dietz" was dropped of the combined name Orange-Nassau-Dietz). Twin towns and sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of international links between municipalities akin to what are known as sister cities or twin towns today dating back to

12880-527: Was the famous general Henry de Nassau, Lord of Overkirk , King William III 's Master of the Horse , and one of the most trusted generals of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough . His descendants became the Earls of Grantham in England. Frederick van Nassau, Lord of Zuylestein , an illegitimate son of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange , gave rise to the Earls of Rochford in England. The 4th earl of Rochford

12995-442: Was the first person to call himself Count of Nassau, but the title was not confirmed until 1159, five years after Robert's death. Robert's son Walram I (1154–1198) was the first person to be legally titled Count of Nassau. The chronology of the Counts of Laurenburg is not certain and the link between Robert I and Walram I is especially controversial. Also, some sources consider Gerhard, listed as co-Count of Laurenburg in 1148, to be

13110-468: Was the first twinned city in Canada and the second in North America, while Denver, United States , twinned with Brest, France , was the second twinned city in the United States. Liberal, Kansas was twinned with Olney, United Kingdom in 1950, and the cities have run a joint Pancake Day race ever since. Littleton, Colorado, twinned with Bega, Australia, in 1961. Tashkent , the capital city of Uzbekistan,

13225-458: Was twinned with Seattle , Washington, in 1973. Rochester, Minnesota , and Knebworth , UK, both centers for primary medical research, twinned in 1967. Ontario, California , has five sister cities around the world. They are Brockville, Ontario, Canada (since 1977); Guamúchil, Sinaloa, Mexico (since 1982); Mocorito, Sinaloa, Mexico (since 1982); Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico (since 1988); and Winterthur, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland. Oakville, Ontario

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