Rough week in Buxton

The city partnerships also sparked many friendships in Bad Nauheim. The football team “Willy’s Pub” also likes to remember the exciting times in the English city.

Bad Nauheim is a treasure trove of memories. Whoever is a guest in the “Deutsches Haus”, in the “Krone” or in the “Willy’s Pub”, he encounters portraits of the inhabitants of the old town everywhere. “We were in Buxton in the 1980s,” says Willy van Bachuesen, referring to the football team’s photo, which includes many of the spa town’s legends.

“This is the pill,” says Willie, who had serendipitously handed his pub over to his successor a year earlier. Certainly, he meant Pierre Elien, who lived in the old town on Gartenfeld Street. He refers to ‘Bull’, the power-in-the-air centre-forward who is also known to many as Achim Stam. And there was ‘Bobo’, real name Norbert Mishke, who pleases visitors today as a city guide and was once a solid defender in VfL, SV 06 or Spvgg.08.

Beauty in the High Peak District

Looking back, no one can really name the many clubs in Bad Nauheim. Detlev Schmidt, formerly one of the most popular taxi drivers in the spa town, played alongside him. “Bobo and I stayed with the host parents,” reports Schmidt, who, unlike Willie, still vividly remembers the outcome of the match in Buxton. “We won,” he assures, being sure of it.

WZ announced in advance that “The Willy’s Pub football team will travel to Buxton June 17-21, 1987 and play against the Bakers Arms Pub team”.

What followed was hustle and bustle in England. There were 120 to 150 Bad Nauheimers, according to estimates by Willy van Bachuisen, who of course had a very busy week in England. It is said that the English quickly emptied some casks of beer they had brought with them. German wine was also very popular in England.

Everyone loved the beauties of Derbyshire in the UK and Buxton on High Peak anyway. “Unlike Bad Nauheim, they really used the cultural buildings there together with modern shops in a modern style,” enthuses Willy van Pachuisen.

Twinning and partnerships with other cities have been a bridge for many local citizens in the world. »We propose entry into the Golden Book of Bad Nauheim and twinning with Buxton on August 21, 1986. A judge of Bad Nauheim said Leslie Ernst Proctor, Mayor of Buxton and Bad Nauheim Mayor at the time Bernd Rohde said that a lively exchange in many areas could promote mutual understanding and knowledge and serves the partnership for peace and a united Europe.” Signed.

Twinning with the French town of Chaumont was initially cultivated, and it was later determined that language barriers were lower in Buxton. According to the letters, the stated aim of twinning the city was also to promote communication with schoolchildren. Because, of course, not only football players from Bad Nauheim were on the island. The students of the Ernst-Ludwig-School with the musical “Joseph and the amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” performed there and inspired the great musical nation on the island with brilliant singers Denise and Nadia.

A new meeting is already planned

Hans-Jürgen Merkle, who made his career from Bad Nauheim as mayor of Heringsdorf on Usedom, was also part of the “Willy’s Pub” team in the sports field. Of course, Bernd Rode was also in England. And former WZ editor Hedwig Rohde was respectfully called the “first lady of the city,” who, some will recall, rivaled the Queen.

Buxton travelers have recently gathered again at the tavern on Schnurstrasse. “And soon another meeting will be on the agenda,” said Willy, who praised contacts in the east. After the opening of the wall, many friendships developed with the citizens of Bad Langensalza in the former German Democratic Republic.

Nowadays, says Alexander Jung of the Bad Nauheim City Archives, the general tendency is to let the town and twinning partnerships sleep. The Willy’s Pub team can still boast in England.