International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Along with its twin city Coventry, Dresden was one of the first two cities to twin with a foreign city after WWII. Similar symbolism occurred in 1988, when Dresden twinned with the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The cities became twins after World War II in an act of reconciliation, as they had suffered incisive destructions from bombings. The Coventry Blitz and Rotterdam Blitz bombardments of the German Luftwaffe are also considered to be disproportional. Dresden has had a triangular partnership with Saint Petersburg and Hamburg since 1987. Dresden has 13 twin cities.

Coventry, United Kingdom, since 1959 Saint Petersburg, Russia, since 1961 Wrocław, Poland, since 1963 Skopje, Macedonia, since 1967 Ostrava, Czech Republic, since 1971 Brazzaville, Congo, since 1975 Florence, Italy, since 1978 Hamburg, Germany, since 1987 Rotterdam, Netherlands, since 1988 Strasbourg, France, since 1990 Salzburg, Austria, since 1991 Columbus, Ohio, United States, since 1992 Hangzhou, China, since 2009