Oryol (Russia)

380 kilometers southwest of Moscow, at the confluence of the Oka and Orlik rivers, lies Oryol, known for its steel processing and mechanical engineering as well as its universities and research institutes. Germans are also familiar with it under the name Orel. This is the spelling that is pronounced Oryol in Russian. Offenbach has decided to adopt the Russian pronunciation.

Oryol was founded in 1566 as a fortified settlement on the Moscow-Kiev trade route. This was the southern border of what was then Russia. From 1941 to 1943, the city was in the hands of the German Wehrmacht. In July 1943, it was the battlefield of the "Battle of the Kursk Front", which went down in the history books as the largest tank battle of all time.

The liberation of Oryol was celebrated throughout the Soviet Union at the time with salutes of honor. It was so badly destroyed that it was given preferential treatment during reconstruction. Despite this painful encounter with Germans, the city reached out to the German Offenbach in 1987, in the era of Gorbachev's perestroika.

In the new Oryol, the visitor encounters lively cultural activities. Several theaters play an important role in this. Plays by Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883), who was born there, are frequently performed. His estate near the town is a museum and can be visited.

In addition to a number of churches, the large number of monuments to Russian literary figures is a striking feature of the cityscape. In Offenbach, as in Oryol, private associations are dedicated to maintaining the partnership. The lively exchange of pupils, students and artists has resulted in a wealth of close personal relationships.