Chesterfield (England)
Twin City since 1959
General information
The twinning with Chesterfield dates back to the year 1959. This partnership is characterized by a long series of contacts and meetings.
With about 100,000 inhabitants, Chesterfield is the second largest town of the County Derbyshire in Middle England, and it is the economic and administrative centre of Northeast Derbyshire.
In Chesterfield, the economic emphasis was transferred from coal mining and heavy engineering to New Technology businesses and the service sector. Chesterfield was first mentioned in a document in 955. It was declared a "borough" by Queen Elisabeth I in 1598, a town community with its own parliament and a mayor.
The landmark of Chesterfield is the crooked tower of the church St Mary's and All Saints, and the reason for the deformation is a subject of many legends. The most common one tells that the Devil, on his way home after a long day's journey, dared to rest a little bit on the church tower. Below in the church though, midnight Mass was being said and the incense went to the Devil's nose so that he had to sneeze. He would have fallen from the tower, had he not clutched at the weathercock with his claws and flung his tail around the tower. The people took the noise for thunder, and only the next morning they realised that their beautiful tower was bent and twisted.
Besides that, Chesterfield is well-known for its traditional market with its stands under colourful umbrellas. Already in the year 1204, King John had granted the town the right to hold a market.
Chesterfield is a suitable starting point for excursions into the environment. It is situated at the border of the Peak District, a national park with heath land and woods, that invites for hiking, climbing, hang gliding and cave visiting. Not far from Chesterfield there is even the Sherwood Forest. And the nearby historical mansions of Chatsworth, Hardwick Hall, Haddon Hall and Bolsover Castle with their wonderful gardens and parks are also worth a visit.
Chesterfield entered the English books of history by a pub named "Cock and Pinot Inn". It was here that in 1688 the subversives of the "glorious revolution" cooked up their plans and chased James II away from his throne without bloodshed. Wealth was procured for the town by the canal builder James Brindley, and by its most famous son, George Stephenson, the inventor of the railway and the miner's lamp.
Numerous long-term partnerships between schools, associations and institutions revive the twinning relationship ever again. Among those count the school partnerships among the grammar schools Edith-Stein-Schule and Viktoriaschule, and their respective partner schools. On the level of technical exchange as well, there are contacts between institutions of Darmstadt and the respective partners at Chesterfield (a.o. the German Red Cross and HEAG). Many years of exchanges with mutual visits have been organised by Original Twinning Society at Darmstadt and the Chesterfield-Darmstadt-Troyes Society at Chesterfield.