The coat of arms for the town
The cold war between East and West was in full swing when the old Metropolitan borough of Woolwich became friendly with the West Berlin borough of Reinickendorf.
Reinickendorf has many open spaces and lakes. Beside Lake Tegel stands a Greenwich telephone box and a red pillar box – gifted by the borough many years ago.
At the time of twinning, our German friends were developing a swampy area called the Markischesviertel to create new homes and a new community following the devastation of war. This development bore a resemblance to the work going on in Greenwich to create Thamesmead.
Similar to Greenwich, Reinickendorf was an industrial town, replaced by the tourist industry.
Since the twinning friendships have developed, there has been at least one marriage. There is also even an annual football match between staff of the two local councils.
Other twinned towns
Visit the webpages on Maribor and Tema for further information on the other towns twinned with Greenwich.