Western Piedmont
Sister Cities

Working Toward a Global Village

"(We) cannot achieve peace without understanding, and understanding can only be achieved through the hearts of people."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Four Decades of Progress

While the concept of "global village" continues to shrink the world through communications technology, Sister Cities provides a direct, personal contact with people and places that fiber optics can not duplicate.

Sister Cities International evolved from the People to People program initiated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. As the principal program of the Town Affiliation Association of the United States, the tax-exempt, non-profit organization coordinates contacts between U.S. cities and other countries. Sister Cities is now the world's largest volunteer organization with more than 900 U.S. cities linked with some 1,400 cities in foreign lands.

Through Sister Cities, global friendships are established across international boundaries, bringing global perspective into the Unifour-North Carolina's fourth largest metropolitan area. At the same time, we enjoy the spice-of-life that Sister Cities can provide.

Rewards of International Partnerships

Over the years, Sister Cities International has enjoyed many success stories. For example, a Sister Cities link between Charlotte, N.C. and Krefeld, Germany and Limoges, France has brought several European subsidiaries to Charlotte and the Carolinas, while another Charlotte Sister City, Arequipa, Peru, has hosted educational exchanges through formal agreements between the Univeridad de Santa Maria and Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory.

Sister Cities can futher international understanding through:

• business and trade options
• official visits
• church and civic service projects
• host families and pen pals
• technical, medical, and educational exchanges

UNIFOUR: Leading the Way in Region-to-region Partnerships

Western Piedmont Sister Cities Association, chartered in 1993, unites the four counties of the Unifour (Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, and Catawba) with seven municipalities and operates under the auspices of Western Piedmont Council of Governors.

In 1995, the Association made international history, joining with Altenburg, Germany, to create the first region-to-region partnership ever for Sister Cities International. This linkage, however, was not the first such relationship for a local city. Shortly after chartering in 1993, Valdese established a Sister City link with its ancestral partner, Torre Pelice, Italy.

In 1994, negotiations began to explore a relationship with Altenburg, in the former East Germany. Two Altenburg officials visited the Unifour in February 1995, and the first U.S. delegation went to Altenburg that June. The partnership, agreed upon that fall, is based on regional ties to German settlers, the Luthern Church and more recent industrial and business interests between the Unifour and Germany as a whole.

ALTENBURG, GERMANY: A "Sister" With Old World Charm

Der Altenburger Land is in the former East Germany in the State of Thuringia, about 30 miles northeast of Frankfurt.

Altenburg is a place with a rare view of old-world life with a 1,000-year-old town square, a schloss (castle) visited by Johann Sebastian Bach, and St. Nichola Church, where Martin Luther preached in the 16th century. A newly renovated theater and the famed Lindenau Museum are cultural magnets of the region.

For more information, contact:
Dana Lingerfelt
Western Piedmont Sister Cities
Western Piedmont Council of Governments
317 1st Avenue, NW
Hickory, NC 28601
Telephone: 828-322-9191
FAX: 828-322-5991