DEPARTMENT: Economic Development
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Rene Dominguez
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City-wide
SUBJECT:
Sister City Agreement with the City of Darmstadt, Federal Republic of Germany
SUMMARY:
The Sister City Program, administered by Sister Cities International, was initiated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 to encourage greater friendships and understanding between other nations and U.S. cities, counties and states. In order to foster those goals, the people of San Antonio and the City of Darmstadt, Federal Republic of Germany agree to collaborate for the mutual benefit of our communities by exploring educational, economic and cultural opportunities. Darmstadt would join ten other cities with the formal designation of San Antonio Sister City.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
San Antonio has long celebrated its deep and historic ties with Germany, including specifically with Darmstadt, dating to the 1840s when 40 young Darmstadt intellectuals came to Texas to found a colony in the Texas Hill Country. A number of them settled in San Antonio, including Dr. Ferdinand Ludwig Herff, who served as the city's Health Officer and was instrumental in founding, along with the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio's first hospital, the Santa Rosa Infirmary. The infirmary would become Christus Santa Rosa whose Children's Hospital, considered one of the best in the country, serves over 100,000 outpatient visits annually.
Other reminders of the influence of German settlers can still be seen throughout the City, most notably in the historic King William District (named after King Wilhelm of Prussia) and the Beethoven Maennerchor, which just celebrated in 150th Anniversary.
In the present day, Darmstadt and San Antonio are aligned in multiple key industries: Darmstadt is considered the number one city for cybersecurity in Germany and is the center of a thriving startup scene and the presence of the European Space Operations Centre ma...
Click here for full text