It was Richard E. Carver, who knew Aachen very well through his acquaintance with Heribert Zantis, then head of the cultural department, who suggested the imperial city as a twin city to the Arlington County Board.
© NRW-USA Year 2023/2024, Urban Media Project
Aachen's historical past as one of the centers of Europe at the time of Charlemagne and its geographical location in the heart of Europe were factors that made it so interesting for the Americans. On September 17, 1993, the town twinning agreement was ceremoniously signed.
One of the primary aims of the contract is to establish and consolidate contacts between young people.
An association was founded on both sides of the Atlantic to promote the town twinning. This is how the Aachen & Arlington Sister City Committee and the Arlington Sister City Association came into being.
Arlington is located in the state of Virginia and has around 200,000 inhabitants, making it almost as big as Aachen. The city borders directly on the capital Washington, with the River Potomac forming the natural border.
Arlington is located in the state of Virginia and has around 200,000 inhabitants, making it almost as big as Aachen. The city borders directly on the capital Washington, with the River Potomac forming the natural border.
The curious history of the city's origins is interesting. When the Americans agreed on Washington as their capital in 1800, it was stipulated that the city had to remain neutral; it could not be built on the territory of an existing federal state. Thus, an area of ten by ten miles was arbitrarily marked out on the banks of the Potomac.
Over time, it was realized that the new capital did not need that much space and in 1847 the part that was not needed was sold to the state of Virginia. This part, from the Potomac to the edge of the ten-mile zone, is the present-day area of the city of Arlington.
When the Pentagon was to be built in Washington around 100 years later, the city fathers realized with regret that there was not enough space. So the headquarters of the US Department of Defense was built in Arlington. Our twin city was probably very happy about 20,000 new jobs.
The American National Cemetery with its countless graves is one of Arlington's best-known facilities. The city itself is very spacious, but does not have a uniform center like Aachen. Only a small number of manufacturing businesses are located here, but there is an enormous range of services and shopping opportunities.
However, with all the special features that our twin city has to offer, the people who populate this city are the most remarkable. Arlington is a multi-ethnic and vibrant community of people from many different backgrounds and religions. People live and work together peacefully, complement each other, and there is no need to discuss integration at all - it is lived.