A record number of fifth graders from Germany have come to Arlington this year through the county’s sister city program.
Students, parents and civic leaders from the city of Aachen arrived in the United States on Oct. 8 and will stay through Oct. 16. They are being hosted by Arlington families representing 16 public and four private schools, in a quarter-century collaboration sponsored by the Arlington Sister City Association.
“There have been so many people who have rallied for this program,” said Emily Lyons, who is coordinating the visit.
She spoke during a welcome breakfast held on Saturday at Alice West Fleet Elementary School. It was part of a lengthy list of activities planned for the German families during their week-long stay.
They, in turn, will welcome their Arlington families to their city next spring.
“I’m happy to receive you all in Aachen,” said the city’s mayor-elect, Michael Ziemons, who was part of the contingent.
Speaking with County Board members Susan Cunningham and JD Spain, Sr., at the breakfast, Ziemons noted that he had met County Board Chair Takis Karantonis just the past week. Karantonis was in Aachen as part of a separate Sister Cities exchange.
“He explained to me all the systems you have here,” said the incoming mayor, who will preside over a city council of 58 members compared to Arlington’s five County Board members.
Ziemons said that Aachen’s location at the crossroads of Europe makes it a multicultural community.
“This is what makes our town special,” he said, promoting student exchanges as one way to further “warm, warm friendships.”
The exchange program has an upper limit of 50 students per year. Lyons said organizers believe this is the first time that number has been reached.
Many of the German families are fluent in English. To aid in communication and as a courtesy to their guests, some Arlington youth received rudimentary German-language instruction prior to the start of the exchange.
Aachen’s history stretches back more than 1,200 years. In 800, the German ruler who is remembered in history as Charlemagne — “Charles the Great” — was crowned in Aachen Cathedral on his way to creating one of Europe’s earliest superpowers.
At its peak, what came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire included all of present-day France, Germany and Italy plus parts of modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain and Switzerland. It would last, in various forms, for more than 1,000 years, with Aachen remaining its historical center.
The cathedral has survived and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site today. Its 1.3 million annual visitors have the opportunity to view the throne where Charlemagne’s coronation took place.
Cunningham noted that her family participated in the exchange in 2018. Plans for doing it a second time with her younger daughter were not possible due to the impact of Covid, which derailed in-person exchanges for several years.
“I’m glad to see you all back at full capacity,” she said. “Have a great time.”
Spain said that he and his family had lived in Stuttgart, Germany, during military service in the 1990s.
“I have a really fond affinity for all things German,” he told the crowd. “Let’s keep this going.”
Lyons noted that bonds created with student exchanges can last a lifetime. She participated in a similar event in high school, and “I’m still friends with people I met,” she said.
The Aachen students joined host families at the Yorktown High School homecoming football game and were slated to tour Nats Stadium. They also will spend tomorrow (Wednesday) at their host schools.
While the fifth-graders are visiting, a group of Aachen high-school students is spending two weeks in the county as part of another Sister Cities exchange.
With about 260,000 residents, Aachen is Germany’s westernmost and 27th largest city, and is slightly more populous than Arlington. Located on its country’s western border, the city is adjacent to both Belgium and the Netherlands.
Aachen is one of Arlington’s five Sister City relationships, along with Reims, France; Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine; San Miguel, El Salvador; and Coyoacán, Mexico. The Coyoacán relationship currently is in emeritus status, but efforts are being made to bring it back to life.
