Fronreute – Germany

The act of Partnership was signed: 31.07.1995 r.

The first step in building the partnership between Tarnowo Podgórne and Fronreute commune was a meeting of Ewald Kohler of Ravensburg with the priest Henryk Rękoś and Kaziemierz Szulc in 1986. During the meeting they have agreed on the creation of a youth group at the parish in Tarnowo Podgórne that will be in touch with the youth of Blitzenreute. The first meeting of the youth took place in 1987 at our Commune and one year later the Polish group went to Germany.

The official agreement on the partnership of the self-governments was concluded on July 31st, 1995. It was signed by the local authorities: Commune Head Waldy Dzikowski, Mayor Roland Bürkle and the priests: Henryk Rękoś and Karl Mohn. An interesting fact is that partnership agreement from Poland was delivered to Germany by a group of relay race runners from Fronreute.

At present, the cooperation between the communes is coordinated by non-governmental organizations: the Association for Reconciliation Tarnowo Podgórne – Blitzenreute, on our side, and Deutsch-Polnische Partnerschaft Fronreute – Tarnowo Podgórne on the German side. The main aim of having these groups is maintaining, developing and strengthening bonds and friendships between the citizens of both communes and sharing experience in the field of culture and tradition. Every year the inhabitants of each commune visit one another – usually for a period of one week.

The actions of these associations were celebrated by the local authorities – both organizations received the titles “Well-deserved prize for Tarnowo Podgórne” “: Poland – in 2005, and German – in 2012. In addition, the Tarnów Association received the award Tarnowski Lew in 2011 (during the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Association’s activity). As for the other awards, a long-term vice-president Jacek Dobrzeniecki received from the commune head Tadeusz Czajka the title “Active Locally” in 2013.

As part of the cooperation, the delegation from Fronreute regularly participates in the celebration of the Tarnowo Podgórne Commune Days, including the international conferences where current social topics are discussed. The topics, amongst others, covered the challenges that the local governments face. All these topics were discussed during the conference “Where are you heading to, Europe? Where are we heading to?”.

Our delegations regularly participate in the Processions of the Lord’s Blood in Weingarten, during which the representatives of the procession ride horses. This procession is a unique event. For 900 years in the Basilica of St. Martin in Weingarten (about 8 km from Fronreute) the relics of Blood of Christ are worshipped. Once a year, a day after the Ascension of the Lord (on the day called Blutfreitag), the relic leaves the walls of the Basilica in the early morning and is transported in a solemn horse procession down the streets of the city and the surrounding fields, giving blessing to the gathered. The name of this procession is “In Honor of the Holy Blood of Christ”. The procession on horseback in Europe has 100 years’ tradition. The event is spectacular as more than 100 parishes, 100 orchestras and more than 3,000 horsemen participate in the procession.