25 Year Celebration

On 28 June 2000, the first Memorandum of Understanding was signed at Aachen City Hall by KERIC (Khayelitsha Education and Information Centre), Welthaus Aachen, the City of Aachen and the then City of Tygerberg (which was incorporated into Cape Town shortly afterwards).

As this ceremonial signing is considered the official start of the partnership, the partnership celebrated its official 25th anniversary in 2025. From 16 to 21 March 2025, Lord Mayor Sibylle Keupen travelled to Cape Town with a large delegation from Aachen to celebrate the anniversary with their South African partners and set the course for the future of the partnership.

The 25th anniversary celebration took place on 17 March 2025 at the Smart Living Education Centre, Green Point Park. Many of the partnership’s companions were in attendance, including two of its founders, Dumisa Bangani from KERIC and Vuyani Tshayingwe (former mayor of Tygerberg). In addition to the obligatory speeches and an extensive buffet, there was a musical performance by Aziza Baxter-Davids from Manenberg (as an exchange musician in Aachen in 2023), who got the entire birthday party dancing at the end.

In Aachen, the partnership association organised a whole series of events under the motto ‘25 years of Aachen-Cape Town’. These were presented for the first time on Volunteer Day on 18 May 25 in the city park. During the first week of June, young people were able to showcase their artistic skills by designing a mural in the underpass in Aachen-Richterich. At the end of June, there was a lecture on ‘15 years of Climate Ticket’ and author readings by and with Lutz van Dijk. The centrepiece of the celebrations was an exhibition at the PLANBAR office on Theaterplatz and the official ceremony of the City of Aachen in the Coronation Hall of Aachen City Hall on 23 August 2025. A delegation from Cape Town, led by Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews, came to Aachen to continue the future work that had begun in March. Garden parties at the Heinrich Heine Comprehensive School and a summer school at the Aachen University of Applied Sciences rounded off the celebrations at the end of August/beginning of September.