Mayor Steve Allender greeted a delegation of students from Apolda, Germany – Rapid City’s German Sister City – at City Hall earlier this month.
Mayor Allender shared perspectives on Rapid City’s aldermanic form of municipal government, how citizens impact local government and interact with local leaders, and fielded questions from the student delegation. The Apolda group was also invited to photograph the Apolda Street sign near City Hall. During their Rapid City visit, the students planned to visit local schools and attractions while staying with local host families and taking in events like a football game. Mayor Allender presented the German student delegation with City pins and stickers. After the visit, many of the student sposed for selfies with the mayor.
Rapid City has enjoyed Sister City partnerships with both Apolda, Germany and Nikko City, Japan since 1994 with numerous delegations from the communities making official visits to their respective Sister Cities through the years. Rapid City renamed one-block portions of downtown City streets as Apolda Street and Nikko Street in 2015, after their German and Japanese Sister Cities.
A delegation of seven Rapid City residents, including three representing Rapid City government, visited Apolda, Germany last month. The trip included City Engineer Roger Hall, Community Enrichment Manager Michelle Schuelke and Information Technology’s Steve Baumker. Included in the week-long itinerary were visits to Apolda’s fire and police departments, mayor’s office, city engineering, hospital and information technology department. A major highlight of the visit was attending the official unveiling ceremony of Apolda’s Rapid City street sign. The Rapid City delegation also attended several events, including two receptions at Apolda’s Onion Festival, a tour of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp, visits to the Kyffhauser Monument (ruins of a medieval castle), the Frankenhausen Panorama Museum and the city’s brewery.