TAVISTOCK Town Council has agreed to put on an exhibition on the history of Celle, the town's German twin, in late 2002 or early 2003.
The idea has been approved by the council's twinning sub-committee — 2002 will be the 25th anniversary of the signing of the twinning charter and the 50th anniversary of the towns' first youth exchange. But it is uncertain whether all the preparation can be done in time to mark that occasion. The material has yet to be translated into English.
The council agreed in principle in November to host the exhibition, if the money could be found. Now the Celle authorities have undertaken to raise all the money needed from international and twinning funds, so that there will be no cost to Tavistock.
Town clerk Roger Howard said: 'It is very generous of them.'
He said the town hall would be booked for the event as soon as a date was fixed and it would probably run for a week.
The exhibition attracted 80,000 visitors when it was held in Celle in 1999. It has been shown in several places in Germany, attracting thousands of visitors, and has been featured on German television and in the newspapers. It is expected that it will go on to London after Tavistock.
The subject of the exhibition is the story of the 50,000 refugees from the east who flooded into Celle and the surrounding district at the end of the second world war. It comprises texts, charts, photographs and documents.