German visitors crowd city hall as Las Cruces celebrates German sister city

German visitors crowded the Las Cruces City Hall to celebrate the 25th year of a sister city partnership with Nienburg, Germany.

“We’re sorry that the weather is a little hot,” said Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima. “I see a little bit of sunburn on some of your faces. We apologize for that.”

The group included 18 high school students who stepped foot in the United States for the first time.

“Everything is like bigger,” said Sophie Gurtsachmann. “We were so shocked! The cars, the food, everything’s bigger, which is just really interesting to see.”

“I’ve experienced some of the American culture and the food,” said Jakob Goellner. “Especially also, the Mexican stuff that’s going on here.”

Mayor Miyagishima and Mayor Henning Onkes from Nienburg signed a renewed commitment to their sister cities partnership.

Miyagishima told ABC-7 that the group funded their own trip to the United States. He could not give a specific example of an economic benefit from the partnership, but he said Las Cruces is open for business.

“That’s why I want a German-built car company coming here to Las Cruces,” he said.