03-05-2025
German exchange students visit Reading's City Hall
Exchange students from Reading's sister city, Reutlingen, Germany, learned about Reading's government Thursday during a visit to City Hall.
The 11 students, ages 15 to 17, represented two of Reutlingen's schools, Johannes-Kepler-Gymnasium and Friederich-List-Gymnasium.
In the German education system, a gymnasium prepares students for a university education and is considered the most academically rigorous of the three secondary school types.
The later school bears the name of the German entrepreneur, diplomat, economist and political theorist Frederich List, whose legacy unites his native Reutlingen with Reading, where he lived temporarily and edited the German-language newspaper Reading Adler from 1826 to 1830.
The German youths and their teachers, Heike Spiegelhalter and Corina Goesswein, got a brief lesson on Reading's history and government from City Council President Donna Reed and Councilor O. Christopher Miller.
German exchange students from Reutlingen line up for lunch during a tour at Reading City Hall on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Following a lunch reception in Council Chambers, they engaged in a round table discussion of American-European relations.
The student exchange program began in 2002 as part of the sister-city partnership formed by Reading and Reutlingen more than a quarter-century ago.
Students from each city live with an exchange family for two weeks, attend classes and learn about the other's culture
The program is coordinated on the local side by Reading High School teachers Krystal Riegel Martinez and Kate Perkins, who escorted several Reading high schoolers to Reutlingen in October.
German exchange students from Reutlingen Jule Zieger, left, and Johanna Gorlach, both 16, talk about their experience so far in Berks County during a tour and lunch at Reading City Hall on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
The Reading students were hosted by the families of the German students now visiting Reading.
'We got to be friends,' said Jule Ziefer and Johanna Gorlach.
The 16-year-olds, who attend the Kepler school, spent the morning at Reading High School, Ziefer said, and were surprised by the size of the school and number of students.
Their school, with grades equivalent to fifth through 12th in the U.S., has about 1,000 students, they said, comparing it to Reading High's four grades and about 5,000 students.
The group will use Reading as a base for the next two weeks. During that time, they will make day trips to Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Washington and New York.
