Although Town Twinning started many years ago, it really took off after the Second World War as an act of reconciliation and to encourage a better understanding between peoples of different countries. Starting in Europe it spread world wide.
There is no fixed format it is but the participants make of it. Links can be civic, family, business, cultural, school, sports groups, industry and commercial.
Letchworth has three twin towns Chagny in France, Wissen in Germany and Kristiansand in Norway. Letchworth, Chagny and Wissen favour family links but Kristiansand prefers civic links. The partnership between Letchworth and Kristiansand started in the days of the Letchworth Garden City Corporation which no longer exists and the link is now dormant.