City friendship associations
In Frankfurt, the city partnerships also involve establishing personal links with people in the corresponding cities. Some of the city links are supported by the work of dedicated twinning associations.
Freundeskreis Frankfurt/Krakow was founded in 1989 by citizens of Frankfurt. In 1991 this initiative developed into a city partnership between Frankfurt and Krakow. The association helps foster a lively exchange between the two cities by organising many cultural activities. Meanwhile, the Freundeskreis Frankfurt/Krakow has expanded its activities by founding the German-Polish Society Frankfurt am Main and is now dedicated to cultivating good relations between Germany and Poland. The main focus, however, is on the cooperation with the partner city of Krakow.
The Städtefreundschaft Frankfurt - Granada e.V. association was founded long before any official friendship had been established between the cities. An official agreement was signed in 1991 between Frankfurt am Main and Granada at the instigation of the association. With the help of local partners, the city friendship association organises important social projects, such as those dedicated to supplying districts with fresh drinking water, electricity and sewage systems. The projects also include disaster management, the establishment of a fire brigade, training for women and the improvement of school education through the founding of pre-schools and a library. The association receives financial support from the City of Frankfurt, the State of Hesse and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Frankfurt-Dubai-Gesellschaft e.V. was founded in 2006. The association supports the city friendship with Dubai, which has existed since 2005. It is dedicated to enabling the inhabitants of both cities to get to know each other personally through reciprocal visits in the spirit of international friendship. Cooperation opportunities are identified and contacts established in the fields of culture, sport, science and education.
The former lord mayor Peter Feldmann and mayor Prof. Dr. Yilmaz Büyükerşen signed the official documents on 23 April 2013 to seal the city partnership between Frankfurt am Main and Eskişehir in Turkey. The association "Avrupali Eskişehirliler e.V." (Europeans from Eskişehir) was founded in 2007 and is a cultural association currently consisting of about 100 member families with roots in and around Eskişehir. The aims of the association are the preservation, promotion and cultivation of traditions and culture, the encouragement of solidarity and communication between its members and Eskişehir. The association organises wide-ranging charity work together with its Turkish and German sponsors. Existing Eskişehir aid projects include providing support to people in need in the form of goods and financial means. Eskişehir was made a partner of the Höchster Schlossfest in 2014. Since then there has been close cooperation between Avrupali Eskişehirliler e.V. and Vereinsring Höchst e.V.
After Philadelphia became a new partner city of Frankfurt am Main in 2015, the founding meeting of the "Frankfurt-Philadelphia-Gesellschaft" (Frankfurt Philadelphia Society) was held in Frankfurt in 2016. The continuing importance of transatlantic cooperation in the economic, cultural, academic and political arenas, as well as the cultivation of friendship with the United States of America form the basis of the work of the Frankfurt Philadelphia Society.
There are also a number of societies and associations that are dedicated to international or bilateral relations without being specifically related to a city partnership.