The municipality of Rüdersdorf near Berlin maintains six town twinning partnerships, which are characterised in particular by a variety of personal encounters and mutual respect.
The connection with Pierrefitteeine, a town to the north of Paris, has existed since 1966, making it the oldest town twinning partnership alongside those with Hemmoor in Lower Saxony, Lomma in Sweden, Popielów in Poland, Schwegenheim in the Palatinate and Neuburg.
"You can't decide on friendship - you have to live it!" said Mayor André Schaller at the 40th anniversary of the partnership between the two towns. Next year, Rüdersdorf and Pierrefitte will be able to look back on 45 years of friendship, which the municipality is very proud of, especially because of the past Franco-German discrepancies in the 20th century.
A French delegation from Pierrefitte-sur-Seine visited Rüdersdorf at the weekend to seal an exchange programme for the next two years. The agreement was signed on Sunday, 5 December 2010, in the Rüdersdorf council chamber.