Reading welcomes German students
High schoolers from sister city using town as base for next two weeks
Exchange students from Reading’s sister city, Reutlingen, Germany, got a lesson on Reading’s government Friday during a tour of City Hall.
Before the tour got underway, the 16 students, representing two of Reutlingen’s high schools, were treated to a lunch reception in Council Chambers. The German youths and their teachers were welcomed by William Heim, city managing director, and English Bradley, Mayor Eddie Moran’s chief of staff.
The top staff members filled in for the mayor, who is on compassionate leave.
“Of course, you can tell by my name, Bill Heim, that I am of German descent,” he said. “Heim meaning home, of course. Right?” Heim was answered by head nods and a chorus of “ja.”
The visitors also got to meet Council President Donna Reed; Councilmen Jaime Baez, Wesley Butler and O. Christopher Miller; Laura Reppert, city 275th anniversary coordinator; and Bradley K. Smith, archivist and associate director of the Berks History Center.
Many of the early settlers in Reading and Berks County immigrated from the region Europe that is now Germany, Smith told the students. The language they and their descendants spoke is similar to the Schwabish dialect spoken in the region around Reutlingen, he said.
Smith, who teaches Pennsylvania German language classes at the history center, spoke to the students in the dialect also known as Pennsylvania Dutch, or Pennsylvanisch Deitsche. “Verschteh?” he asked, meaning understand. The students clearly did, because they laughed during part of Smith’s message.
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, Reed said.
“Students from each city live with their exchange family for two weeks, attend classes and learn each other’s cultures,” she said.
The program is coordinated on the local side by Reading High School teachers Krystal Riegel Martinez and Kate Perkins, who escorted 11 Reading high schoolers to Reutlingen in October 2023. The Reading students were hosted by the families of the German students now visiting Reading, Perkins said.
“We do have a true student-to-student, student-to-family cultural exchange,” she said.
The school system is a little different in Reutlingen, explained Anja Krapf, a foreign language teacher at Isolde-Kurz-Gymnasium. She and Yvonne Teusser, a teacher at Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium, lead groups of exchange students from both schools, alternating each year with teachers and students from Reutlingen’s two other high schools.
Krapf said the visiting group will be in the U.S. for two weeks, during which they will take day trips to Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Washington and New York.
A Reading Fightin Phils game at FirstEnergy Stadium was also on the itinerary, she noted.
“They are excited about seeing a baseball game in a real American ballpark,” Krapf said.
Reading High School alumni Butler and Reppert, who took part in the exchange program while in high school, spoke to the students about their positive experiences and the impact on their lives.
“I hope you guys have a great time here, experiencing America,” Butler said. “I know there’s some differences, and I know there’s some similarities.”
Perkins said she appreciated hearing about Butler and Reppert’s experiences.
“What’s really exciting,” she said, “is knowing how many students have done this and knowing the impact that it’s left on them and their families.”