Blog > Sister Cities of Düsseldorf — a call for postcards
Have you ever heard of sister cities, also known as twin towns? It’s a concept in which “two cities or towns in geographically and politically distinct areas are paired, with the goal of fostering human contact and cultural links”. Collaborations between the cities can take many shapes (for instance, exchange programs or commercial ties), but the goal is simply to unite the towns on a meaningful level.
Right after the Second World War for example, a lot of cities in the UK and Germany came together in this way, helping promote peace and reconciliation. Sounds like a good idea, right? We firmly believe that projects focused on cross-cultural bonds and dialogue make the world a better place, by helping people open their minds to different realities and points of view. This is what Postcrossing is all about as well, so in a way, connecting cities is a lot like connecting people… just on a different scale! 😊
This year, Düsseldorf is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its connections with three sister cities: Haifa (IL), Chemnitz (DE) and Reading (GB). Despite their differences, these three cities have been finding ways of collaborating and expanding their horizons together for the past 30 years. For instance, they’ve organised internships and student exchanges, sports events, donations to each other in times of need and even brought artists together to build this huge mural in Düsseldorf!
To celebrate this milestone, the city of Düsseldorf is partnering with Postcrossing to create an international postcard exhibition that will allow the world to join in on the celebrations. Nothing says “connections across borders” like postcards, so we believe this is the perfect medium to expand their jubilee to the entire world.
And this is where YOU come in! Düsseldorf kindly invites all postcrossers to take part on the postcard exhibition by sending in postcards with well-wishes and thoughts on sister cities. To participate, choose a postcard from your area and send it to:

(The address has been removed as exhibition is already taking place, so postcards are no longer needed.)
We encourage everyone to congratulate Düsseldorf, Haifa, Chemnitz and Reading on their triple jubilee and also to write about sister cities on your postcards! Is your city or town twinned with another one? What do you think of the concept? And do you have any good ideas for cooperations between sister cities?
And as a bonus, the nice people from Düsseldorf’s town hall have reserved 100 specially designed postcards to send out to 100 randomly chosen participants of the exhibition! For a chance to win one, just include your email address on the postcard you send. Don’t worry — your email addresses will be covered for the duration of the exhibition.
All postcards will be displayed on Café Europa (Marktplatz 6 a) from June 30th onwards, so you have until then to send in yours. And if you’re around, mark your calendar and send us photos! We’d love to see your beautiful postcards in all their shiny glory! 😍
PS – If you were the mayor of your town and could twin it with another one, which one would that be? And what would you suggest for your first cooperation? Let us know in the comments!

Tags: call-for-postcards, duesseldorf, germany
89 comments so far
- Philadelphia, USA
- Göttingen, Germany
- Leiden, The Netherlands
- Hämeenlinna, Finland
- Kaliningrad, Russia
- Čadca, Slovakia
- Swindon, England
- Lutsk, Ukraine
- Novo Mesto, Slovenia
- Guilin, China
- Angers, France
- Kovno/Kaunas, Lithuania
Tampere in Finlad
Sunderland in the UK (since 1949!)
Grenoble in France
Tel Aviv in Israel
Nischni Nowgorod in Russia
Changzhou in China
Zabrze in Poland
since 1957 St.Petersburg - Russland
since 1958 Marseille - Frankreich
since 1986 Shanghai - China
since 1987 Dresden - Deutschland
since 1989 Leon - Nicaragua
since 1989 Osaka - Japan
since 1990 Prag - Tschechische Republik
since 1994 Chicago - USA
since 2010 Dar Es Salaam - Tansania
Whenever I send a postcrossing card into one of our twin cities, I will mention that "we" are twins, but sadly, most recipients had never heard of it.
Hopefully, this blog posting will get everyone motivated to look up "their twins".
http://www.chicagosistercities.com/sister-cities/
My suburb's sister city is Nailuva, Fiji!!!! Oh, to receive a postcard from there would be awesome!
Thank you for this topic as I learned something new about my area! I also learned that Chicago is sister city to Toronto (Canada) where one of my good friends lives. (Yes, I told her about Postcrossing and she recently became a member).
(1) Alamos, Sonora, Mexico
(2) Interlaken, Switzerland
(3) Cairns, Queensland, Australia
(4) Kingston, Ontario, Canada
(5) Haikou, Hainan, China
(6) Marrakech, Morocco
(7) Uasin Gishu, Kenya
(8) Killarney, Ireland
This has inspired me to get involved with my city’s Sister City program! This is right up my alley, so to speak!
Thanks Anna!
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Lorient, France
Seattle, Washington, USA
Bradford, England
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Aalborg, Denmark
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Menlo Park, California, USA
Galway City also has a number of Friendship Agreements with cities:
Qingdao, China
Auckland, New Zealand
Moncton, New Brunswick, Candada
Stirling, Scotland
Coventry, England
Darmstadt, Germany
Dubrovnic, Croatia
Pula, Croatia
Groningen, The Netherlands
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Maribor, Slovenia
Montclair, New Jersey/USA
Pècs, Hungary
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Timisoara, Romania
Trieste, Italy
Trondheim, Norway
and two of other form of cooperation and city friendship similar to the twin city programmes:
Nis, Serbia
Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegowina
We have a lot of Sister Cities:
Maubeuge, France (since 1958)
Les Quesnoy, France (since 1963)
Cramlington, United Kingdom (from 1967 to 2016)
Vermillion, South Dakota/USA (since 1969)
Kokkola, Finland (since 1989)
Beelitz, Brandenburg/Germany (since 1990)
Gagarin, Russia (since 1998)
Wuxi, Province Jiangsu/China (since 2007)
There are also partnerships with
the Children-Tram "Lottchen" in Dresden, Germany, and
a plane of Lufthansa CityLine
Our second daughter Jula visited Vermillion + Cramlington with the Youth wind orchester of Ratingen. Two young female flautists from Kokkola were our welcome guests a few years ago.
Congrats on this postcrossing project! I wont be able to see this exhibit in person ...i hope you'll post some pics here.
Palma de Mallorca, Spain is sister cities with:
-Santa Barbara, California, USA
-Alghero, Sardinia, Italy
-Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
-Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
-Portofino, Italy
-Xalapa-Enríquez, Veracruz, Mexico
- El Jadida (Morocco)
- Brava, Vila Nova de Sintra (Cape Verde)
- Omura (Japan)
- Petrópolis (Brasil)
- Trindade (São Tomé e Príncipe)
- Lobito (Angola)
- Bissau (Guiné Bissau)
- Honolulu (Havai, USA)
- Namacha (Moçambique)
- Havana Velha (Cuba)
- Assilah (Morocco)
- Beira (Mozambique)
- Fontainebleau (France)
sister city, but Salt Lake City does have several:
Chernivtsi, Ukraline
Izhevsk, Russia
Keelung, Taiwan
Matsumoto, Japan
**Oruro, Bolivia
**Quezon, Phillippines
**Thurles, Ireland
Torino, Italy
Trujillo, Peru (Friendship City)
Thanks to your post, I was able to learn this information.
I will send a postcard straight away!
And ps: I see my dear friend, smeuldersdrawings, has already commented. Perhaps I can have my town's sister city be her town and add towns of all my Postcrossing friends!
Hualien, Taiwan 🇹🇼
Yao, Japan 🇯🇵
Kladno, Czechia 🇨🇿
Liepāja, Latvia 🇱🇻
If I were Mayor of Lubbock, and could pick a sister city in the United States, I would pick a city that is the total opposite of us. Like Boston. From what I understand, Boston is liberal, whereas Lubbock is totally conservative. Lubbock was voted the second most conservative area in the United States in a survey (Salt Lake City came in first.)
Villach, Austria
Killarney, Ireland
San Pedro, Mexico
Ashikaga, Japan
Choibolsan - Mongolia;
Manchuria - China;
Ulan-Ude - Russia;
Hailar - China.
- Nogent-sur-Marne (France)
- Winterthur (Switzerland)
- Prokuplje (Serbia)
- Collesano (Italy)
- Kagamino (Japan)
- Pontarlier (France)
And even :
- Gotham City (USA)
Fingers crossed.hope to win... Can the winners please have a post with all the postcard pictures won ? in case we don't win at least we can see the beautiful postcards!
Happy postcrossing!! :D
I will mail a postcard!
:)
Germany Grevenbroich, Germany, since 1986
Germany Singen, Germany, since 1990
Croatia Slavonski Brod, Croatia, since 2010
Bosnia and Herzegovina Doboj, Bosnia and Hercegovina, since 1965
Celje has friendship agreements with:
Montenegro Budva, Montenegro
Russia Cherepovets, Russia
Serbia Ćuprija, Serbia
Austria Graz, Austria
Austria Spittal an der Drau, Austria
Los Angeles since June 27th 1967
Paris since July 2nd 1987
Madrid since November 4th 1988
Istanbul since November 17th 1989
Warsaw since August 12th 1991
Moscow since August 28th 1991
Brussels since June 1st 1992
Budapest since August 28th 1992
Tashkent since April 30th 1993
Mexico City since September 1st 1993
Peking since April 5th 1994
Jakarta since April 13th 1994
Tokyo since May 14th 1994
Buenos Aires since May 19th 1994
Prague since June 10th 1995
Windhoek since July 6th 2000
London since October 10th 2000
My Moscow, 122 twin cities, here is not a complete list:
Ankara (Turkey), Baku (Azerbaijan), Astana (Kazakhstan), Athens (Greece), Bangkok (Thailand), Belgrade (Serbia), Berlin (Germany), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Brest (Belarus), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Valenciennes (France), Warsaw (Poland), Vienna (Austria), Havana (Cuba), New Delhi (India), Donetsk (Ukraine), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Dusseldorf (Germany), Zagreb (Croatia), Ingolstadt (Germany), Kiev (Ukraine), London (United Kingdom), Luzon (Philippines), Ljubljana ( Slovenia), Madrid (Spain), Munich (Germany), Nikolaev (Ukraine), Paris (France), Beijing (China), Pyongyang (North Korea) and Rostov-on-Don (Russia), Teheran (Iran), Tel Aviv (Israel), Ulan-Bator (Mongolia), Hanoi (Viet Nam), Kharkiv (Ukraine), Helsinki ( Finland), Chicago (United States), Yalta (Russia)
My postcard will start its journey tomorrow. (^_^)
The sister cities of 's-Hertogenbosch are: Trier (the oldest city in Germany) since 1968; and Leuven (BE) since 1185 when Duke Henry I of Brabant granted 's-Hertogenbosch city rights.
Wish I could visit the exhibition.
The theme of twinned towns is very close to me) i am collecting due to direct swapping the greeting cards from places twinned to my town Baranovichi, Belarus. There are 23 town friends! I have got the cards from Heinola, Finland) Gdynia, Poland) Stockerau, Austria) and travelling from Karlovo, Bulgaria) Ferrara, Italy) Biala Podlaska, Poland)...
There are Heinola Boulevard and Stockerau Boulevard in my town..
I live in Victoria, BC Canada, the capital city British Columbia.
The city Victoria is "Twin" with;
- Napier, New Zealand,
- Suzhou, China,
- Morioka, Japan,
- Khabarovsk, Russia.
and has "Friendship" with;
- Nanning, China,
- Changsha, China.
South Tyneside, England (since 1951)
St. Etienne, France (since 1960)
Berlin Tempelhof-Schönefeld, Germany (since 1964)
Beer Sheva, Israel (since 1977)
Kosice, Slovakia (since 1980)
Schwerin, Germany (since 1987)
Matagalpa, Nicaragua (since 1987)
Legnica, Poland (since 1993)
and also has friendly ties with
Tabarka, Tunisia
Jekaterinburg and Engels, Russia
Qingdao and Xinxiang, China
Back in high school I once took part in a student exchange with Legnica, which was a great fun really interesting! :o)
Sarajevo, Croatia 🇭🇷
Brunswick, Germany 🇩🇪
Nashville TN, United States 🇺🇸
Saporoshje, Ukraine🇺🇦
Radom, Poland 🇵🇱
Harbin, China 🇨🇳
Le Havre, France 🇫🇷
- Oulu in Finland (we have an Oulu Lake and an Oulu Street)
- Bracknell Forest in England
- Ljubljana in Slovenia
- Nazrat-Illit in Israel
- Chinandega in Nicaragua
- Schwedt in Germany (these German-German partnerships are remains from when there were two German states)
- Villeneuve d’Ascq in France
- Racibórz in Poland
- Wuxi in China
I have exchanged postcrossing cards with Oulu (both ways several times), Ljubljana (both ways) and Wuxi (both ways). It would be totally cool to send to or receive from all of them one day, but as some are rather small (not unlike my own town ;-)), it would be quite a big coincidence.
Dinant, Belgium and Exmouth, UK
My hometown Lucca (Italy) has got 5 sister cities: Abingdon (UK), Colmar (France), Sint Niklaas (Belgium), Schoungau (Germany) and South San Francisco (USA).
Furthermore we are twinned with Heemstede (Netherlands) since 2000 and with Bad Freienwalde (Germany) since 1990.
Congratulations to you all, my postcard is en route.
Bethlehem Pennsylvania has 4 sister cities ...
Corfu, Greece
Tondabayashi Ashi, Osaka Japan
Murska Sobota, Slovenia
Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
Colombes, Strausberg and Sopot. I send one of it to Düsseldorf :-)
\\//_ mene sakkhet ur-seveh
Barnet, Vermont, USA
Chaville, Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, France
Jinja, Uganda
Le Raincy, Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France
Montclair Township, Essex County, New Jersey, USA
Morphou, Cyprus
Ramat Gan, Israel
Siegen-Wittgenstein, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Berlin, Germany
warm greetings from Düsseldorf. My name is Sonja (I am a fairly new postcrosser) and the person you wrote all your postcards to :)
It has (only) been 14 days since this project started and we already received 180 postcrads!!! This is truly amazing. Thank you.
Some of the postcards reached us from our neighbours, such as Ratingen or Köln and some came from far away (Arizona, Singapore, Australia). We are truly touched by all the sweet greetings and thoughts about sister cities - THANK YOU - and keep'em coming ;D
My town Brasov has 16 sister cities:
• Tampere, Finland[20]
• Tours, France
• Győr, Hungary
• Rishon LeZion, Israel
• Holstebro, Denmark
• Musashino, Japan
• Kroonstad, South Africa
• Ghent, Belgium
• Leeds, United Kingdom
• Minsk, Belarus
• Trikala, Greece
• Venaria Reale, Italy
• Cleveland, United States[21]
• Nuremberg, Germany
• Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan
• Linz, Austria[22]
These are the sister towns/cities of my city.
Newport, Rhode Island has "twinned" with six similar sister cities from around the globe.
Skiathos, Greece.
Kinsale, Ireland.
Imperia, Italy.
Shimoda, Japan.
Saint John, New Brunswick,…
Ponta Delgada, Azores,…
Our twin cities are
Blantyre (Malawi),
Bristol (England),
Hiroshima (Japan),
Leipzig (Deutschland),
Poznan (Polen),
Perpignan (Südfrankreich),
Rouen (Nordfrankreich).
Rgs
Beate
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