2023 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Selkirk / Plattling Twinning Group, which has already seen a very successful visit in April of a number of our Bavarian friends.

The twinning is a happy story. About 800 Plattlingers have visited Selkirk so far, while some 400 Selkirk folk have been to visit Plattling. All sorts of groups have exchanged visits: High School pupils, firemen, policemen, football teams, our pipe band, their ‘oompah’ youth band, cooks, craftsmen – the list expands continually. Many have visited several times.

Its success is due to several things: Bavaria and Scotland were formerly small independent kingdoms subsumed and dominated by more powerful neighbours; each town has a Roman past; each town has a long and significant history resolutely maintained of which they are fiercely proud and each town has a distinctive vernacular culture. Perhaps the most important cause of the success was the deliberate intention at the outset to make this a ‘people first’ enterprise by widely involving the community, and not a twinning officially organised, then, after much ‘official’ junketing, handed back to the community.

The twinning has proved fruitful at every level and handsome bronze plaques in the Market Places in both Selkirk and Platting attest to the friendship. Perhaps the underlying reason for the popularity of our twinning was the discovery that the Plattlingers are like-minded, fun-loving, warm and generous people and like Borderers, the Bavarians enjoy a jolly good party. We try hard to reciprocate, even though Plattling is over twice our size and a very wealthy little town. We welcome participation from other Borders towns, as does Plattling its nearby towns.

2023, being the 25th anniversary of the Twinning, will be celebrated with a further two visits: one in August, and one in August / early September. Many activities will be provided for the visitors, including trips to various sites of scenic and historic importance in the Borders, plus of course the opportunity to enjoy much of our local music, culture, food and drink. 

We look forward to hosting another successful series of events to cement the deep friendship between our towns, which has brought so much enjoyment to us all. 

Plattling Twinning Group