The exhibition provides a vivid account of the long-standing city partnership between Dresden and Wrocław. While the twinning of cities across borders as bilateral institutions connecting countries and people has been well known since the 1990s, hardly anyone knows about its origins in the cultural policy of the former GDR.
This gives rise to questions that the exhibition explores: Why were the city partnerships established – the one between Dresden and Wrocław in 1959? What function were they intended to fulfil? How were the partnerships able to facilitate personal encounters and contacts before 1989, despite their strong political instrumentalisation? And how was it possible to continue the partnership after 1989? This book tells the story of the resumption of relations and the many, very different activities – in the spirit of reconciliation, civic engagement, cultural cooperation and encounters between people.