Visby

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Visby
Visby coat of arms
Sweden Gotland location map.svg
Visby
Visby
Localization of Gotland in Sweden
State : Sweden
Province  (län): Gotland County
Historical Province (landskap): Gotland
Municipality  : Gotland
Coordinates : 57 ° 38 '  N , 18 ° 18'  E Coordinates: 57 ° 38 '  N , 18 ° 18'  E
SCB code : 2552
Status: Crime scene
Residents : 23,402 (December 31, 2015)
Area : 13.69 km²
Population density : 1709 inhabitants / km²
List of perpetrators in Gotland County

Visby ( [ˈvɪsbyː] ; Swedish pronunciation [ˈviːsbʏ] ; German also Wisby ) is a city on the west coast of the Swedish Baltic Sea island Gotland . Visby is the capital of the Gotland County in the historic Gotland Province and the capital of the Gotland Region municipality and seat of the bishopric of the eponymous diocese . The city coat of arms shows the Lamb of God .

climate

Visby is located in the area of ​​humid continental climates ( Köppen : Dfb ).

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Visby
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 0.7 0.3 3.1 8.0 14.3 19.0 20.3 19.7 15.4 10.7 5.7 2.5 O 10
Min. Temperature (° C) −3.4 −4.3 −2.7 0.5 5.1 9.6 12.3 12.1 9.0 5.5 1.7 −1.6 O 3.7
Precipitation ( mm ) 48 28 32 29 29 31 50 50 59 50 57 51 Σ 514
Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 1.1 2.1 4.3 6.5 9.3 10.3 9.1 7.8 5.4 3.4 1.6 0.9 O 5.2
Rainy days ( d ) 11 7th 8th 7th 6th 5 8th 8th 10 9 12 11 Σ 102
Humidity ( % ) 88 87 85 79 73 76 78 80 83 85 87 88 O 82.4
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
0.7
−3.4
0.3
−4.3
3.1
−2.7
8.0
0.5
14.3
5.1
19.0
9.6
20.3
12.3
19.7
12.1
15.4
9.0
10.7
5.5
5.7
1.7
2.5
−1.6
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g
48
28
32
29
29
31
50
50
59
50
57
51
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source: wetterkontor.de

history

Visby - harbor and old town
Visby historical city ​​walls
Park Almedalen
City view of Almedalen

Origin of the place Visby

The name Visby (north. "Vi" = place of sacrifice ) indicates that the place had pre-Christian meaning. On the west coast of Gotland , where the coastline bends to the northeast, the location of what will later become Visby is extremely convenient: the shore forms a bay, then protected by sandbanks, on which the steep shore slopes down in terraces. It was an ideal landing place for deep, early ships. There was also plenty of fresh water. Visby's beginnings are probably at a time when traditional trade routes were no longer usable due to the Arab expansion and trade between the Byzantine and Franconian empires increasingly had to be carried out via the rivers of Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea. The main shipping routes from the south to the north and east of the Baltic Sea were located between the Swedish east coast and the west coast of Gotland in order to avoid direct sea crossing.

The traces of the older settlement are sparse; but since the beginning of the Viking Age (from 800 AD) the place has been used continuously. The remains of wooden houses found in the old town can be dated to this time. However, it can be assumed that the place was initially only seasonally inhabited by local commercial farmers. During the North Germanic expansion in the Viking Age, in which the population of Gotland actively participated, the island became an important starting point for homeward and outbound journeys. The Gotlanders adopted the Viking trading tradition from this time, and Wisby became a trading center between the West and the Baltic States . In the 11th century the place, which is now populated all year round, grew and the first church was built in the port area.

Visby as a leading trading port in the 12th century

Visby developed into the leading trading port in the Baltic Sea region in the middle of the 12th century. A trade agreement between Visby and Novgorod can already be assumed in the previous century . Gotland drivers, i.e. merchants traveling to Visby, are first recorded among the Russians and Danes: at least one Russian merchant church in Visby (St. Olav) and a mention in the Novgorod Chronicle speak for the Russians ; the presence of the Danes is evidenced by a letter of privilege from the Danish King Waldemar the Great (see Knudsgilde ). German merchants can only be accepted in larger numbers later - after 1161. Visby was first approached because the direct route across the Baltic Sea was not dared, but it soon developed into a trading center where Western European products (including cloth, wine and spices) were traded for Swedish (iron), Russian and East Baltic products (furs and wax) were. Visby benefited from the growing demand in Western Europe for products from the Eastern Baltic region.

Beginnings of the history of the German Gotland riders

The Gotlanders received extensive trading rights from Emperor Lothar as early as 1134. However, the German merchants who traded in the Baltic Sea did not have such privileges on Gotland, which provoked disputes between the two parties. Fights between Germans and Gotlanders are recorded for the period between 1143 and 1161. The Artlenburg privilege of Henry the Lion , which gave the Gotlanders the same rights in Saxony as the German merchants had there, had a mediating effect . In return, he achieved that the German merchants on Gotland could trade freely. But even after this privilege, German merchants were not welcome in Visby; Sometimes there were bloody disputes, which is why they built their own church (St. Per), while the Gotlanders kept St. Hans and St. Clemens churches to themselves. This was the starting point for a later parish division between Germans and Gotlanders.

A small German community was established in Visby. This was separated from the Gotland community; Only in 1318/1320 did the communities unite due to the good relationship by amalgamating their councils. Until 1215/1220 the Germans on Gotland were homines of the Saxon duke; only then did they become citizens of Gotland . Therefore, Heinrich the Lion confirmed Odalrich in 1161 as Vogt or Aldermann of the Germans who wanted to settle in Visby in the future.

Older research assumed that the German merchants were superior to the Gotlanders mainly because they had a better type of ship with the cog . This assumption could certainly be falsified by modern ship archeology. Today it is assumed that the Low German merchants were financially stronger and better trained in trade and its organization. In any case, they were initially dependent on the Gotlanders for trade with the eastern Baltic region; because they had good contacts in Russia and were also more adept at dealing with Russian partners in terms of trade policy. In addition, in contrast to the German merchants, the Gotlanders owned a trading yard in Novgorod , the so-called Gotenhof . After some German merchants married their daughters to Gotland merchants, the Gotlanders involved them in the Baltic Sea trade .

However, this trade policy excluded most of the German merchants; There was a separation of the German merchants into the Gotlandia manentes now based on Gotland and the Gotlandiam frequentantes who only visit Gotland . The excluded German merchants were denied access to Novgorod. For this reason they confiscated Russian goods in Visby in 1188 in order to punish open debts of the Russian merchants. This led to the termination of all trade with the West by the Possadnik of Novgorod, thus also putting Gotlander under pressure and isolating the Gotlandiam frequentantes , for which the Gotland churches were then probably closed and which now began building the Church of St. Mary . This stop lasted three years, then the Gotlanders and the Gotlandia manentes agreed to negotiate with Novgorod on behalf of all Germans. This was done by the Gotlander Arbud. The Gotlandiam frequentantes lifted the confiscation when the Gotlanders agreed to negotiate for them the right to trade in Novgorod. This made Visby an even more attractive destination for German merchants. The city authorities, however, took measures to ensure that a situation like 1188 did not recur by having the oldest sea wall in Visby built, which was not suitable for defense, but served to control the market and the port in case of doubt.

The community of Gotland drivers was first mentioned in a document by Margarete von Flandern in 1252 and marks the beginning of Hanseatic trading activities in the Baltic region.

Visby's story in the 13th century

Visby in the Middle Ages, divided into four parishes with their parish churches

The 13th and 14th centuries were an economic heyday of Visby, which was still known today as "Regina Maris" (Queen of the Sea) . The city grew into a big city in the 13th century, the core of which was mainly inhabited by wealthy merchants. By the end of the 13th century there were more than 15 churches; three monasteries emerged: a Dominican monastery (ca. 1230), a Franciscan monastery (1233) and a Cistercian monastery (1246).

The steadily growing number of German merchants (mainly coming from Westphalian cities) continued to expand trade with Novgorod, where they soon owned a trading yard themselves (the St. Peters yard , mentioned for the first time in 1259 ). In the 13th century, the management of the Novgorod trade shifted more and more from the commercial cooperative of the frequentantes to the municipality. The protection of the merchants was taken over by a union of cities with Lübeck , which was concluded in 1280 and which Riga also joined in 1282 . In German cities, Gotlanders received unprecedented privileges for people from the north , and they were often able to become council members. Visby was fully involved in the Städtehanse until its economic decline .

At the beginning of the 13th century Gotland fell under the rule of the Swedish crown. For economic reasons, it became interesting for the two municipalities of Visby to break away from the Gotland region and thus from the legal constitution of the Gotland rural municipality. However, this separation also meant a release from royal influence. After 1270 Wisby began building a city wall, which led to the civil war between the city and the surrounding area, which escalated in 1288. A crushing defeat of the peasants prevented the intervention of the Swedish King Magnus Ladulås (King 1275–1290). The Swedish king forced the city to recognize his sovereignty; at the same time, however, Visby's independence was in fact recognized.

Visby in the first half of the 14th century

First Visby was able to maintain its position as an important trading city in the Baltic Sea region in the 14th century. It continued to play a leading role and established itself as the head of the Gotland-Livonian third within the Hanseatic League. The formal supremacy of the Swedish king remained in spite of this. It expressed itself, for example, in the promulgation of the Visby city charter by King Magnus Eriksson after 1340, which is available in a German version, while the Swedish version was probably not implemented, and which contains elements of German and Swedish law.

As early as the end of the 13th century, there had been a power struggle between Lübeck and the self-confident communities of Visby for supremacy in the Baltic Sea region, which had first manifested itself in the question of who should be in control of the Novgorod trading post. Although many cities held to Lübeck, other important cities held to Visby, so that at the beginning of the 14th century it was decided that both cities should share the office of highest control over the Novgorod trade. The struggle for supremacy continued for several decades until Visby lost its importance in the second half of the 14th century due to new commercial realities (end of the seasonal migration of merchants and advances in nautical science ).

Visby's story after 1350

St. George's Gate in the city wall

In 1361 Visby was conquered by the Danish King Waldemar IV. Atterdag (King 1340-1375) ( Battle of Visby ). From 1394 to 1398 the Vitalienbrüder sought protection behind Visby's city ​​walls . Until the expulsion by an army of the Teutonic Order , the Vitalienbrüder from Visby achieved maritime rule in the Baltic Sea. The island and city fell back to Denmark in 1408. In 1411 the construction of the Visborg began.

Visby was attacked in 1525 by troops from the Hanseatic city of Lübeck. Among other things, all churches were destroyed with the exception of the German merchant church of St. Marien, today's Cathedral of St. Maria .

With the Peace of Brömsebro , which was concluded in 1645 , Visby and Gotland became part of Sweden.

Attractions

The "Hanseatic City of Visby" was listed as a historical monument in 1805, and since 1995 with its numerous medieval buildings it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site . In addition, the entire inner city is under monument protection as an area of ​​" Reich interest ". The outstanding part is the almost completely preserved 3.6 km long medieval city ​​wall with the ruins of the Visborg . The city is one of the most beautiful cities in Sweden, including Visby Cathedral , originally St. Mary's Church from the 13th century, as well as some of the numerous church ruins such as St. Karin , St. Nicholas or the Solberga Monastery including the Gotland Museum Contribute to Fornsal . The oldest preserved building in the city is "Kruttornet" (the "Powder Tower"), built after 1151.

Lust Pavilion in the Botanical Garden

On the north-west section of the city wall is the Botanical Garden with the St. Olof church ruins in its southern part. A roundabout with a sundial and a "pleasure pavilion" form the focus. As a result of the favorable climate, trees and bushes that are unusual for Sweden, such as mulberries , figs and walnuts, also grow here .

Since 1984, the Medeltidsveckan (Middle Ages Week ) has taken place every year at the beginning of August - always in the 32nd calendar week - on Gotland and especially in Visby , to which living history actors from all over Europe travel. The festival week with a great historical spectacle, knight tournaments, concerts, medieval market and other cultural events commemorates the conquest of the city and the island of Gotland by the Danish king Waldemar IV Atterdag in 1361.

The Gotland campus of Uppsala University is located between the present port and the now silted up former port from the Middle Ages, which today forms the Almedalen Park (from 1998 to 2013, it was an independent university on Gotland ). A little further south was the Kopparsvik burial ground .

The leisure and amusement park Kneippbyn is located about five kilometers southwest of Visby . a. with the original building of the Villa Kunterbunt , known from the film adaptations of Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking books, for which Visby served as the location and backdrop.

5 km north of Visby, Johnny Roosval, the first Swedish professor of art history , and his wife Ellen built the artist house Villa Muramaris at the beginning of the 20th century . The villa, in which there is a museum and u. a. Concerts and exhibitions of contemporary art take place, is surrounded by a garden in the Italian Baroque style with numerous sculptures , which can be visited in the summer months.

13 km north of Visby on the way to Lummelunda is the nature reserve of the Lummelunda Grotto , through which the Lummelundaån river flows.

power supply

The first converter station for HVDC coupling of a wind farm has been located near Visby since 1999 .

traffic

In Visby, an east-west and a north-south bus line run every half hour during rush hour (otherwise every hour to two hours), which are supplemented by two (from mid-June to mid-August three) further lines, each with a few daily trips. There are also two ring lines, which run every hour in summer on weekdays and on weekends throughout the year instead of the above-mentioned lines. Most of the regional bus routes start at the bus station in Visby and cover most of the island radially.

Visby is connected to mainland Sweden by ferries to Oskarshamn and - seasonally - Västervik in Småland and to Nynäshamn south of Stockholm . The Visby Airport is located about five kilometers from the city center.

Town twinning

sons and daughters of the town

literature

Technical literature :

  • Eva Nyman, Gun Westholm:  Visby. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 32, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2006, ISBN 3-11-018387-0 , pp. 446-450.
  • Robert Bohn : Wisby - The nucleus of the Hanseatic Baltic Sea trade. In: Jörgen Bracker (Hrsg.): The Hanseatic League - Reality and Myth. Text volume on the Hamburg Hanse exhibition from August 24 to November 24, 1989. 4th edition, bibliographically updated. Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck 2006, ISBN 3-7950-1275-9 , pp. 269-282.
  • Marita Jonsson, Sven-Olof Lindquist: Gotland cultural guide. Almqvist and Wiksell, Uppsala 1993, ISBN 91-88036-09-X .
  • Ulrich Quack: Gotland. The largest island in the Baltic Sea. A Swedish province of particular charm. Culture, history, landscape. DuMont, Cologne 1991, ISBN 3-7701-2415-4 .

Fiction :

  • Selma Lagerlöf : Waldemar Atterdag pillages Visby (the legend is told of the young girl who fell in love with one of the enemies and opened the city gate for them; she was walled in alive)
  • Selma Lagerlöf: Little Nils Holgersson's wonderful journey with the wild geese (description of the city in Chapter 14).

Web links

Commons : Visby  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Visby  - Sources and full texts
Wikivoyage: Visby  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. a b Statistiska centralbyrån : Land area per Tatort, folkmängd and invånare per square kilometer. Vart femte år 1960 - 2015 (database query)
  2. See: Coat of Arms with Agnus Dei
  3. MC Peel, BL Finlayson, TA McMahon: Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification . In: Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. . 11, 2007, ISSN  1027-5606 , pp. 1633-1644. (direct: Final Revised Paper ; PDF; 1.7 MB).
  4. ^ A b c Robert Bohn: Wisby - the nucleus of the Hanseatic Baltic Sea trade. In: Jörgen Bracker (Hrsg.): The Hanseatic League - Reality and Myth. Text volume on the Hamburg Hanse exhibition from 1989. Lübeck 1999, p. 269.
  5. See also the Pirenne thesis
  6. a b c d e f g h i j k l G. Dahlbäck: Art. Visby. In: Lexikon des Mittelalters, Volume 9. Darmstadt 2009.
  7. a b c d Robert Bohn: Wisby - the nucleus of the Hanseatic Baltic Sea trade. In: Jörgen Bracker (Hrsg.): The Hanseatic League - Reality and Myth. Text volume for the Hamburg Hanse exhibition from 1989. Lübeck 1999, p. 270.
  8. Dick Wase: The earliest German settlement on the "Gothic shore" in Visby. In: Hansischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 118. Trier [u. a.] 2000, p. 10.
  9. a b c Dick Wase: The earliest German settlement on the "Gothic bank" in Visby. In: Hansischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 118. Trier [u. a.] 2000, p. 11.
  10. ^ Philippe Dollinger: The Hanseatic League. Kröner's pocket edition, 371, 6th edition. Alfred Kröner, Stuttgart 2012. p. 310ff, especially p. 312.
  11. ^ Philippe Dollinger: The Hanseatic League. Kröner's pocket edition, 371, 6th edition. Alfred Kröner, Stuttgart 2012, pp. 301ff, especially pp. 301, 312.
  12. Robert Bohn: Wisby - the nucleus of the Hanseatic Baltic Sea trade. In: Jörgen Bracker (Hrsg.): The Hanseatic League - Reality and Myth. Text volume for the Hamburg Hanse exhibition from 1989. Lübeck 1999, pp. 270–271.
  13. a b c d e Robert Bohn: Wisby - the nucleus of the Hanseatic Baltic Sea trade. In: Jörgen Bracker (Hrsg.): The Hanseatic League - Reality and Myth. Text volume for the Hamburg Hanse exhibition from 1989. Lübeck 1999, p. 271.
  14. Dick Wase: The earliest German settlement on the "Gothic shore" in Visby. In: Hansischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 118. Trier [u. a.] 2000, pp. 11-12.
  15. Dick Wase: The earliest German settlement on the "Gothic shore" in Visby. In: Hansischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 118. Trier [u. a.] 2000, p. 12.
  16. a b c Dick Wase: The earliest German settlement on the "Gothic bank" in Visby. In: Hansischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 118. Trier [u. a.] 2000, p. 28.
  17. a b Dick Wase: The earliest German settlement on the "Gothic bank" in Visby. In: Hansischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 118. Trier [u. a.] 2000, p. 15.
  18. For the development of shipbuilding in the western Baltic Sea area in the pre-Hanseatic period see Ole Crumlin-Pedersen: Shipping in the early Middle Ages and the development of early cities in the western Baltic Sea area. In: Klaus Brand, Michael Müller-Wille, Christina Radke (ed.): Haithabu and the early urban development in northern Europe. Writings of the Archaeological State Museum, Vol. 8, Neumünster 2002, pp. 67–81. To compare the Scandinavian ships with the Hanseatic ones, cf. Uwe Schnall: The cog. In: Jörgen Bracker, Volker Henn, Rainer Postel (eds.): The Hanse. Reality of life and myth. 2nd Edition. Lübeck 1998, pp. 762-765, pp. 764f. Also Sverre Bagge: Norway, kingdom in western Scandinavia, social and economic history. In: LexMA VI, Munich 1993, Sp. 1266-1270, especially Sp. 1268.
  19. ^ Raoul Zühlke: The traffic and its ways in the north-western Baltic Sea area. In: Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 125 (2007), pp. 169–185, especially p. 177. Cf. also Sverre Bagge: Norway, Kingdom in western Scandinavia, social and economic history. In: LexMA VI, Munich 1993, Sp. 1266-1270, especially Sp. 1268.
  20. Dick Wase: The earliest German settlement on the "Gothic shore" in Visby. In: Hansischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 118. Trier [u. a.] 2000, pp. 12-14.
  21. Dick Wase: The earliest German settlement on the "Gothic shore" in Visby. In: Hansischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 118. Trier [u. a.] 2000, p. 14.
  22. Dick Wase: The earliest German settlement on the "Gothic shore" in Visby. In: Hansischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 118. Trier [u. a.] 2000, pp. 14-15.
  23. Dick Wase: The earliest German settlement on the "Gothic shore" in Visby. In: Hansischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 118. Trier [u. a.] 2000, pp. 15-16.
  24. Dick Wase: The earliest German settlement on the "Gothic shore" in Visby. In: Hansischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 118. Trier [u. a.] 2000, pp. 16-17.
  25. Dick Wase: The earliest German settlement on the "Gothic shore" in Visby. In: Hansischer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Hansische Geschichtsblätter, 118. Trier [u. a.] 2000, p. 17.
  26. See for example Tore Gannholm: Visby. Regina Maris (The Queen of the Sea) - 1100 years 897–1997. o. O. 1995. See also http://www.swr.de/schaetze-der-welt/visby/-/id=5355190/did=5980050/nid=5355190/1n9xic7/index.html
  27. Robert Bohn: Wisby - the nucleus of the Hanseatic Baltic Sea trade. In: Jörgen Bracker (Hrsg.): The Hanseatic League - Reality and Myth. Text volume on the Hamburg Hanse exhibition from 1989. Lübeck 1999, pp. 271–272.
  28. a b Robert Bohn: Wisby - the nucleus of the Hanseatic Baltic Sea trade. In: Jörgen Bracker (Hrsg.): The Hanseatic League - Reality and Myth. Text volume on the Hamburg Hanse exhibition from 1989. Lübeck 1999, p. 272.
  29. a b Robert Bohn: Wisby - the nucleus of the Hanseatic Baltic Sea trade. In: Jörgen Bracker (Hrsg.): The Hanseatic League - Reality and Myth. Text volume on the Hamburg Hanse exhibition from 1989. Lübeck 1999, p. 274.
  30. ^ A b c Robert Bohn: Wisby - the nucleus of the Hanseatic Baltic Sea trade. In: Jörgen Bracker (Hrsg.): The Hanseatic League - Reality and Myth. Text volume on the Hamburg Hanse exhibition from 1989. Lübeck 1999, p. 273.
  31. Länsstyrelsen Gotlands län: Riksintressen ( Memento of the original dated February 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.i.lst.se
  32. Visby Botanical Garden ( Memento of the original from June 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.visbybotan.se
  33. ^ Rasso Knoller: Gotland Island. 3rd, revised and completely updated edition. Reise Know-How-Verlag Rump, Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-8317-1822-1 , p. 202.
  34. Bus timetable Gotland Summer 2017 ( Memento of the original from August 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on August 23, 2017 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gotland.se
  35. Gotland bus timetable from August 20, 2017 , accessed on August 23, 2017
  36. Summer timetable Destination Gotland ( Memento of the original from June 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on August 17, 2017 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.destinationgotland.se
  37. Extends to the entire island of Gotland: http://www.luebeck.de/stadt_politik/international/partnerstaedte/