Harking back to our AGM again with some ‘behind the scenes’ footage at ctn group ‘s London studio. Thank you again to ctn’s Nicholas Ashley and Carol Lamb for their guidance, and of course to Stephen Watson - ctn group ‘s CEO and BGA’s President.

The English-language final report of the “NRW Meets UK: 80 Years of Friendship” Town Twinning Summit is now available! The BGA was represented by Rafe Courage (Regions and Partnerships Lead) and Robin Phillips (Chair for the North-West). (1/3)

#BritishGermanStories: Kew Gardens is currently home to a number of Henry Moore sculptures, up until January 2027! But did you know that one of them has a distinct British-German story?

A few snippets of the Hidden German Histories walk by Marcus Durst of Visitour.London! A lovely summer evening walk packed full of info on German-speaking immigrants and their impact on the Big Smoke. Thanks again to our attendees, and to Marcus for being our guide!

#WordyWednesday: have you ever heard of the German word 'Kopfkino'? It's a lovely, catchy word that perfectly describes a moment when you truly allow yourself to delve into a 'movie in your mind'.

As Andy Burnham walks into 10 Downing Street, we walk down memory lane! In 2021, the BGA initiated the strategic partnership between Greater Manchester and the Ruhr region. During the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, the now Prime Minister sported our BGA tie!

Good luck to England tonight! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 We’re bringing out a bit of German for good luck - maybe Thomas Tuchel will be using the phrase too today! “Fußballgott” means ‘football god’. Let’s hope ‘he’s on our side’ tonight… you can even use the phrase to describe a remarkable player on our ‘11-a-side’ team 😉

Thank you to everyone who attended our AGM last week via Zoom! During the meeting, three new Trustees were elected. We’re looking forward to having Ross McEwen, Isabella de Taranto and Robin Phillips on our Board and seeing the paths we can pave and strengthen.

#FootballFridays: sadly the World Cup came to an end for Germany on Monday, after a highly dramatic game with Paraguay that ended in a penalty shootout - the first one Germany has ever lost.

Come and join us for summer drinks at Albert's Schloss on 7th July, from 6:30pm! Everyone is welcome - if you are interested in coming along then contact Tamara at t.aberle@britishgermanassociation.org. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

We were delighted that BGA’s Rafe Courage and Robin Phillips took part in the ‘NRW meets UK: 80 Years of Friendship’ summit in Düsseldorf this week. It was held at the NRW’s Regional Parliament with its President André Kuper and Minister Nathanael Liminiski in attendance.

This #TwinningTuesday we’re celebrating Perth’s 70-year anniversary with the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg. Our Scotland Convenor, Ross McEwen, was delighted to attend the city of Perth’s Twinning Anniversary celebrations this past weekend. (1/3)

Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of organising a discussion on the Merz government, one year on from its beginning, in the Houses of Parliament. Dr Ed Turner and Baroness Julie Smith spoke on areas like domestic policy, defense, and implications for the 🇬🇧-🇩🇪 relationship

Something we’re all hoping for in this heat - a cool side of the pillow! If you wanted to say this in German, it would be ‘Kissenkühlelabsal’. It’s made up of ‘pillow’ (Kissen), ‘cool’ (Kühle) and ‘refreshment’ (Labsal).

On 17 June, Robert Keeling from the BGA (London Boroughs Representative) chaired a successful roundtable discussion at the British Embassy in Berlin with representatives from Berlin boroughs twinned with London, the Berliner Senat and DIFGL.

Are you based in Berlin? The Deutsches Institut für Gutes Leben is continuing their 'Berlin x London im Dialog' series with another discussion on urban voices in democracy this Thursday.

BGA members are invited to attend the free launch of Helene von Bismarck’s new book, Fantastic Kingdom, on 17 June 2026 at 6:30pm - hosted by the Mile End Institute at Queen Mary University of London.

Competition time! Following on from Ben McFadyean’s conversation with Max Ehmer, we are offering a competition to win one of Max’s very own match-worn and signed shirts! To enter the competition, make sure to: - Like this post - Send us your answer via Private Message by 26/06/26

Do you feel like you would be perfect for our Learning Executive role? If so, head on over to our website and apply by 28th June! (1/4)

We are looking forward to our now fully-booked in-person event tomorrow at the Houses of Parliament - in partnership with the International Association for the Study of German Politics (IASGP). (1/3)

#FootballFridays: Last month, a delegation from Reinickendorf, Berlin headed to Greenwich - a twinning partnership that has now been flourishing for 60 years. Our London Boroughs Representative, Dr. Robert Keeling was involved, with Frank Zemke leading the delegation (1/3)

The weather has been tumultuous here in London, so this #WordyWednesday will pay homage to that! Hundewetter - literally ‘dog weather’, is a word that is used for particularly unpleasant, rainy, windy weather. I guess it’s still similar to our phrase “it’s raining cats and dogs”...

This #TwinningTuesday, we’d like to highlight Val Pearce and her incredible work with Bicester’s twinned towns over the last decades! Her twinning journey has spanned 44 years, serving the Twinning Association ever since its inception, and will step down as Chair next year. (1/3)

#FootballFridays: There’s no denying that 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 + 🇩🇪 have iconic football history, just think about penalties alone... This World Cup is even more exciting, with Thomas Tuchel - a German football manager, leading England into the tournament. We would love for you share your own footy stories! (1/2)

Since the UK heatwave seems to be sticking around a little longer, our Wordy Wednesday this week has a little “heat” connection too! It's a punchy, rhyming phrase equivalent to our “ignorance is bliss”. The phrase is commonly attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 🖋️

On 13th May, we were delighted to award the BGA Medal of Honour to Mrs Charmaine Mallinckrodt in recognition of the longstanding support that she, and the Schroder family, have given to 🇬🇧🇩🇪 causes. The Medal was presented by our Royal Patron, His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent.

#FunFactFriday: All about the umlaut! German has three umlauted vowels: ü, ä and ö. You’ll sometimes see them written as “ue”, “ae” and “oe”. They play an important role in German grammar, with many nouns changing their vowel in the plural form (for example: Buch → Bücher).

Last week, we had the pleasure of collaborating with the @goethe-institut-uk.bsky.social for an event showcasing Katja Hoyer's new book, Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe. Joined by Julia Boyd, the discussion explored both the intricacies of Katja’s research process... (1/2)

With the sunny bank holiday weekend coming up, we thought we’d share a perfect German phrase all about the sun: ‘Sonne tanken’. Tanken translates as ‘to fuel’ so it’s a very short and sweet way to say you’re ‘fuelling up on sunshine!’

A great way to enjoy Spargelzeit! The German Circle at the National Liberal Club is inviting BGA members to join them for their annual white asparagus supper - next Friday 15th May from 7pm. It will start off with a short piano recital and a glass of German sparkling wine. (1/2)