| Description | Schedule of accessions
Acc. 4544: 4/1/5; 4/3/1/3, 5, 8; 4/3/2/5
Acc. 7000: 1/1/1; 1/2/1-2; 2/1-2; 3/1; 3/2/1; 4/1/6; 4/3/1/1; 4/3/2/2; 4/3/3/2; 5/4/1-3
Acc. 9451: 1/1/2; 1/2/3-19; 2/3-5; 4/1/1-2, 4; 4/2/1-3; 4/3/1/2; 4/3/2/4; 4/3/3/4; 4/3/4/4; 5/1/2; 6/1/1; 6/4/2; 8/1
Acc. 9460: 3/2/2; 3/3/1; 4/1/3, 7; 4/2/5-10; 4/3/1/4, 6-7; 4/3/2/1, 3, 6-7; 4/3/3/1, 3, 5; 4/3/4/1-3; 5/1/1; 5/2/1; 5/3/1; 5/5/1-2; 6/1/2-6; 6/2/2; 6/4/1
Acc. 10849: 1/2/20; 1/3/1; 3/4/1; 4/1/8-9; 4/2/4, 11-13; 4/3/5/1; 5/2/2; 5/5/3; 6/1/7; 6/2/1, 3-5; 6/3/1-10; 8/2 |
| Admin History | The Reading Düsseldorf Association (RDA) was founded in 1947 by the Mayor of Reading, Mrs Phoebe Cusden. In the weeks running up to Christmas in 1946, she wrote to the press appealing for food and clothing for German children. This was in response to an appeal by Major-General Robert John Collins. He was the Colonel of the Royal Berkshire Regiment during and immediately after the Second World War. The regiment was stationed in the Rhineland and saw the deprivation in Germany first hand. On his return, Major-General Collins suggested to various councils in Berkshire that they might ‘adopt’ a German town.
As a result of this, Phoebe Cusden set up the Mayor’s Winter Collection for German children, with the hope of sending parcels of food, clothes and money out to the British zone of Germany before Christmas. Given this, it was sometimes referred to as the Mayor’s Christmas Appeal.
The response to this appeal was mixed. Some did not support it, leading to a decision made by the volunteers not to go collecting house-to-house. However, many did support it and on 17 January 1947, the Berkshire Chronicle reported a total of £79 12s 2d, 1000lb of food, 150 parcels and 12 sacks of clothing and shoes had been donated.
By March of 1947, Cusden’s biographer notes that she had made a ‘tentative promise’ to ‘adopt’ Düsseldorf. It is not clear why Düsseldorf was the place chosen to ‘adopt’ or ‘twin’ with, but this link was pursued from early 1947 onwards.
In August 1947 Phoebe Cusden along with the Mayoress, her daughter Barbara, an interpreter, her husband Albert, and a representative of the press, Mr Hobson, set out on an official visit to Düsseldorf. It is this visit that is regarded as the start of the RDA with anniversaries celebrated from this date.
During this visit, they visited the City Council, feeding stations at schools, a youth camp, emergency housing, the police station, factories, hospitals and many other places. Mrs Cusden witnessed the conditions people were living in first-hand which ‘established beyond doubt the urgent need for food and clothing amongst almost all classes of the people’ (D/EX653/5/1/1/8).
Upon their return, the Cusdens shared about the conditions they had witnessed. There was a suggestion that the people of Reading might be able to house some children as part of an exchange. By the end of 1947 the plan was to bring six children over to Reading as a respite during the winter months. The logistics of planning the exchange delayed it and it was not until 23 April 1948 that six children (Gretel Wicke, Eva-Maria Scholz, Erika Hundhausen, Erich Pohl, Hans Witte and Edgar Bös) arrived.
The children stayed in Reading for three months going to school with the children of their English hosts. They also went on outings to the zoo, had tea with Phoebe Cusden, and went to a Woodcraft Folk camp.
Before their arrival, the Reading Düsseldorf Association had been formally established at a meeting on 8 March 1948. Phoebe was appointed as Chairman whilst the Mayor, Alderman Kersley, accepted the position of President of the Association. A corresponding society was then set up in Düsseldorf on 31 March.
Over the next few years, exchanges to Reading continued, in addition to visits by Reading children to Germany. This included a trip of 70 children staying at the International Youth Hostel. They enjoyed a programme of rambling, and camping.
Once conditions in Germany had improved, it was possible for families in Düsseldorf to host children from Reading. An official Young People’s Exchange was set up to facilitate annual exchanges, alternating between Reading and Düsseldorf. Children would apply to be part of the exchange. These exchanges ended in 1992 as many schools and groups had their own exchanges by then, and children were more used to going on foreign holidays. The RDA still encourages exchanges between schools and groups and often assists with facilitating links and supporting trips.
In 2022 the RDA celebrated their 75th anniversary. Celebrations included a photography competition to win a weekend away in Düsseldorf, an exhibition at Reading Museum and a ceremony to re-affirm the friendship link.
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