Hitchin’s town twinners have marked 60 years of partnership with Bingen am Rhein in Germany.

The Comet: Medallions have been struck marking 60 years of twinning between Hitchin and Bingen am Rhein. Picture: Richard CoxMedallions have been struck marking 60 years of twinning between Hitchin and Bingen am Rhein. Picture: Richard Cox (Image: Archant)

Hitchin Town Twinning Association patron Richard Cox was made an honorary citizen of Bingen, and all the Hitchin twinners received 60th-anniversary medallions.

The event in the German town also boasted attendees from Nuits-St-Georges in France – with which both Bingen and Hitchin are twinned – as well as Bingen’s Kosovan and Turkish twin towns, Prizren and Anamur.

Hitchin Town Twinning chairman Tochi Bhatt said: “It was wonderful to see so many nationalities mixing, although not everybody could speak each other’s language and lot of the conversation was with sign language. To me this is a demonstration of how people of different nationalities can become friends and appreciate different cultures.”

Hitchin band Jazzface proved popular during the weekend-long celebration.

It was also the 10th anniversary of Bingen’s flower gardens next to the Rhine. Richard and his wife Andrea part-sponsored and designed the English Rose Garden there.