St. Louis (KSDK, Jun 8, 2011) - First Stan Musical, now the leader of Germany. St. Louisans celebrated another Presidential Medal of Freedom Wednesday night. This time it was for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and it's all because of a close relationship between St. Louis and our German sister city.
Stuttgart, Germany and St. Louis became sister cities back in 1960. And because of the strong ties the two towns have St. Louis was chosen as one of only three U.S. cities to host a special screening of Tuesday's White House award ceremony.
A small crowd of local luminaries gathered at the Mayor's office in downtown to see Chancellor Merkel honored in D.C.
Mayor Slay and County Executive Charley Dooley were there and a representative from the State Department was also there.
Over the years the sister city program has sent thousands of students back and forth between the countries, as well as business exchanges and even co-operation between doctors and hospitals.
"We want to promote that, encourage that, because it helps St. Louis raise its profile internationally in a global economy," said St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. "And I think it also helps us individually, as people, understanding the world better and learning that there's a lot more to the world than St. Louis."
And chances are most of us have seen the handy work of our sister city. Stuttgart is the home of Mercedes and Porsche.
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