A Year of Celebrations
Since 1951 thousands of people from all walks of life in the twin towns have visited each other.
In 1991 the city of Wuppertal and its citizens were given the Freedom of the Borough of South Tyneside to mark the 40th Anniversary.
A special programme of event including a Wuppertal celebration concert at Customs House was arranged to celebrate the 50th Anniversary in 2001, the concert included the Wuppertal Big Band.
A series of official events in July 2001 included the signing of a special 50th Anniversary scroll to confirm the town twinning links and a commemorative town twinning plaque was unveiled in South Shields Town Centre.
Other Event that took place to make the 50th Anniversary included:
- A group of cyclists from Wuppertal cycled 270 across Germany and Holland to reach South Shields by ferry. The cyclists used the Green Route, a cycle route between South Shields and Wuppertal was established in 1997.
- The Langerfelder Yarn Bleachers, an unique German folk group from Wuppertal bought a splash of costumed colour to the opening parade of the Cookson Country Festival in South Shields.
