Balikesir

Since 2nd November 2006 Schwäbisch Hall has been one of 50 German towns twinned with a Turkish community. Lord Mayor Hermann-Josef Pelgrim travelled with a group of 18 delegates to Balikesir to sign the partnership contract, together with Lord Mayor Sabri Ugur (see the travel report). At the "Kuchen- und Brunnenfest", the festival of the saltsimmerers on the 26th of May 2007, the Treaty has been contersigned by the Lord Mayors Sabri Ugur, Balikesir and Hermann-Josef Pelgrim, Schwäbisch Hall.

Balikesir, with 300,000 inhabitants, is situated between the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea, i. e. between the towns of Istanbul and Izmir in the province of Balikesir. Balikesir covers an area of 14,500 m² and, with its 1.5 million inhabitants, it is one of the 20 largest of the 81 provinces of Turkey.

Some of the sights worth seeing are: the 14th century Yildirim Mosque, the mosque of Zaguos Pascha with bagnio and the clocktower which was built in 1827 by Mehmet Pascha and is based on the model of the Genoan Galata Tower in Istanbul.

Balikesir is an ideal place for holidaymakers and it is possible to reach many interesting destinations from there, such as Izmir, the Aegean Coast or the bird sanctuary in the surrounding area.

The town of Balikesir played a major role when the Ottoman state and the Republic of Turkey were founded.

Balikesir has traditionally been the centre of an agricultural region with dairy farming and market gardening, but now more and more people work in industrial enterprises, which are leaving the large towns.The province of Balikesir produces 70 % of Turkish olive oil.

Balikesir has got a university with 7 faculties and about 25,000 students.

For the town twinning meetings, it is especially important to involve young people, schools, clubs, churches, administration, legal authorities, fire brigades, police etc.

If you want to know more about our Turkish partner town just click on the town's website balikesir.