It is a special occasion when people from the sister cities are able to come, especially during Oktoberfest. But for the Stadtkapelle it was extra special, as this was their first visit since 1983. Forty years later Stadtkapelle made this year’s Oktoberfest one to remember with their performances at the Best Western.

Several people spoke at the banquet to shed light on the history of the Sister Cities relationship and what it meant to have such a large delegation here for Oktoberfest. Commissioner Dick shared how the Sister Cities partnership began between New Ulm and Ulm/Neu Ulm. Though the names share a connection, there is much more to it.

“Let’s go back in time to the Great War, about 1917,” Seeboth said. “All the resources in Germany were strapped and things were not going well anywhere. It happened the mayor of Neu Ulm was a cousin of New Ulm’s mayor [at the time]. He contacted and said ‘Things are not great here. We are having problems feeding our community’. The word went out here and they packed up two boxcars of flour and a lot of other items. That was shipped over and really helped out.”

After World War II, the partnership with Ulm and Neu Ulm was kindled and led to several visits and awards from Sister Cities International in 1979 and 1988. It also led to the creation of the Hans Joohs Cultural Exchange program in 1988, of which Evelyn Zettelmeier is the current intern from Ulm, Germany.

Photo by Daniel Olson New Ulm City Manager Chris Dalton and Mayor Kathleen Backer (left) exchange gifts with the mayors of Ulm and Neu Ulm Martin Bendel and Katrin Albsteiger. The gifts commemorated the time spent together and the memories they made.

Mayor Kathleen Backer said the preparations for this weekend stretched to before her term when Terry Sveine was interim mayor. Backer received a letter from Ulm mayor Martin Bendel in January expressing his wish to bring a delegation of officials from Ulm and Neu Ulm to New Ulm for Oktoberfest. Backer found out at the same time the Sister Cities Commission was working to bring the Stadtkapelle band from Neu Ulm as well.

“We found out the schedule, we shared it with one another and planning continued [for a long time],” Backer said.

A slogan well-known in the New Ulm area is “Germans Have More Fun”. To cap off her speech, Mayor Backer addressed everyone in the crowd who assisted with the Ulm/Neu Ulm delegation. She asked if it was true from their experiences with the delegation Germans truly do have more fun. The response of applause and shouts signaled the phrase held true.

First Mayor of Ulm Martin Bendel and Lord Mayor of Neu Ulm Katrin Albsteiger then exchanged gifts with Mayor Backer and City Manager Chris Dalton to commemorate the visit.

Backer and Dalton gave each mayor a selection of prints from a local artisan and a commemorative plate. Bendel’s had Hermann the German and Albsteiger’s had the Glockenspiel. Bendel presented a piece of brick from the original birthplace of Albert Einstein, and Albsteiger gave a recipe for German cookies and a picture of Neu Ulm.

The Stadtkapelle Band, led by conductor Thomas Artmann, then gave their final performance of their Oktoberfest weekend. German and big band staples were mixed in with “Dancing Queen” and “Mamma Mia” by ABBA. After their final song, the band received a standing ovation from the attendees as Artmann stood and took a bow. It was a fitting sendoff for a band who traveled to New Ulm for the first time in forty years to perform.

Stadtkapelle president Martin Miecznik said the group thoroughly enjoyed New Ulm’s Oktoberfest and would like to return in the future. Currently, money and timing are their biggest roadblocks. Traveling across the Atlantic Ocean is expensive. To save money, the band landed in Chicago and took busses to New Ulm. The group’s members also have full-time jobs of their own they have to put aside when they travel.