City of Urbana Visits Thionville, France

Last month Urbana took another visit to Thionville as the city prepared to celebrate its 75th Anniversary of its Liberation from German occupation at the end of WWII.

Thionville, France, Urbana’s third Sister City, is part of the Moselle Départment, Grand Est Région, in northeastern France. Located on the Moselle River, it lies 12 km south of the Luxemburg border.

Thionville invited the City of Urbana to participate in the 70th Anniversary Celebration of the Liberation of Thionville from Nazi Occupation at the end of the Second World War. The Urbana City Council passed a Resolution in 2013 creating a Sister Cities agreement with Thionville, and in November 2014 a delegation of nine individuals traveled to Thionville to participate in the event. The delegates toured the City, attended parades, observed ceremonies at the Place du Marché, and laid a wreath at a monument honoring fallen soldiers. The highlight of the weekend was the reenactment of the retaking of the bridge across the Moselle River by the American Army. During the banquet that followed, Urbana resident and WWII Veteran Kermit Harden was honored, and the Mayors of Urbana and Thionville signed an official “Twinning Cities” charter.

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