Geographically, Poland is Berlin’s closest partner country. In view of the eventful history we share, Berlin attaches great importance to the partnership with Warsaw and other Polish cities.
Berlin and Warsaw’s agreement on friendship and cooperation and a corresponding supporting program were signed in Berlin on 12 August 1991. This was followed on 7 January 1994 by the signing of a “framework agreement on mutual cooperation between Berlin and Warsaw” on continuing the cooperative partnership that had existed since August 1991.
Over the following years, the two cities developed an active exchange in the areas of urban development, mobility, city marketing, environmental protection, higher education and research, and cultural exchange. The cooperation between the two partners includes a reciprocal exchange of experience, support for conferences and other events, and their work together in European and international networks and contexts.
In making contact, Berlin and Warsaw can call on a comprehensive network of institutions. At the same time, Berlin also has recourse to a lively German-Polish civil society right here in the city, which is regularly invited to the Red Town Hall for networking meetings.
Another priority is school and university partnerships, almost 100 of which have been established between Berlin and institutions in Warsaw and other Polish cities. And the fact that more than 110,000 Berliners have Polish roots is a great advantage to cooperation with our neighboring country. More than 140 representatives from civil society, politics, higher education and research, and business took part in the last German-Polish networking meeting at the Red Town Hall in December 2022.
Many different German-Polish institutions were involved in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the city partnership in 2021, making the abundant connections between the two countries very visible. Reciprocal visits were also made on the highest political level.