© Stadt Bocholt
Mayor Vitalijus Mitrofanovas (centre) welcomed the European guests at Akmenè Town Hall.

© Stadt Bocholt
Newspaper articles about the town twinning with Bocholt are also collected in the local library.

Together, the European guests visited the \ — © Stadt Bocholt
Together, the European guests visited the "Atžalynas" educational centre, where more than 350 children are looked after in eight groups.

A visit to the cultural festival \ — © Stadt Bocholt
A visit to the cultural festival "Akmenės Smuikelis" ("The Violin of Akmené") was also on the programme. The festival is attended by people from all over Lithuania.

11. June 2025Europe/International

First visit to the twin town of Akmenė in Lithuania

Celebration of "70 years of Akmenè rayon" // Visit to a cultural festival

Mayor Thomas Kerkhoff was a guest in the Lithuanian district of Akmenė on the occasion of his official inaugural visit. He was accompanied by a small administrative delegation. The visit emphasises the friendship that has grown and the strategic development of the town twinning between the two municipalities.

Kerkhoff took the opportunity to get to know the Lithuanian partner community better. The programme included a visit to the regionally significant cultural festival "Akmenės Smuikelis", a tour of the redesigned library with its extensive German book collection, a visit to a children's daycare centre and the art gallery in neighbouring Žagarė in the Šiauliai region.

The personal exchange with Mayor Vitalijus Mitrofanovas, Lithuanian MP Tomas Martinaitis and other municipal representatives deepened the bilateral relationship. Contacts were also established with delegations from Akmenė's other twin towns - Skhidnytsia (Ukraine), Konin (Poland) and Viru-Nigula (Estonia).

In his speech to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Akmenė Rajon, Mayor Thomas Kerkhoff recalled the Lithuanian delegation's visit to Bocholt in May of this year. At that time, the friends had travelled to the inauguration of the new Akmenė promenade on the Bocholter Aa.

The promenade is a "visible sign of this connection between our cities and at the same time an impulse for the future", said Kerkhoff. The partnership is to be strategically expanded further, including through joint youth projects such as the European youth camp, which will be held in Bocholt again this year.

About the town twinning

The friendship between Bocholt and the Akmenė district originated in the 1990s. The first aid shipments developed into personal contacts and friendships, which led to an official friendship treaty in 2000. On 14 May 2022, the partnership was formalised with an official exchange of documents.