- Kinheim-Kindel
Named after the Belgian partner city Harelbeke
This square is named after the Belgian city of Harelbeke, with which Kinheim is friendly linked through a city partnership.
The origins of this friendship, established through the fire brigades of both locations, date back to 1961, when Kinheim's fire chief Herrmann Kaufmann contacted Lieutenant Jan Libbrecht from Harelbeke during the West Flemish Summer Congress of Fire Brigades and organized a trip for the Brandweer Harelbeke to Kinheim, which took place in September 1962. In the following years, strong friendships developed from this visit between Kinheim and Harelbeke "fire brigade families," notably supported by fire chief Klaus Schäfer and his deputy Willi Zender on the German side.
On the initiative of Harelbeke's mayor Luc Decavele, the friendship between the two places was ultimately also formalized on a political level. He and the Kinheim local mayor Willy Mathy signed the partnership certificate on June 28, 1997, in a festive ceremony at the town hall in Harelbeke.
As a sign of the partnership, this square was officially renamed "Harelbeke-Platz" on the initiative of local mayor Jens Stamm during the celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of the friendship between the two fire brigades on May 1, 2012.
On the map
Harelbekeplatz 1
54538 Kinheim-Kindel
DE
Phone: 0049 6532 3444
Fax: 0049 65432 1499
E-mail: info@kinheim.de
Website: www.kinheim.de