Upon Ms. Knecht’s return to Denver, she told her students about the devastation, and the result was one of Denver’s minor miracles. Over the next year, Denver’s students raised $32,000 in nickels and pennies, and this sum was used to rebuild the Children’s Wing of the Brest City Hospital.

In 1948, the Sister City concept became a reality in Europe. Brest and Denver immediately proceeded with the contract of “jumelage” or “twinning”, as the affiliation is known in other countries. Brest, France is Denver’s first sister city, with the affiliation becoming final in 1948.

Since that time, the people of Brest and Denver have enjoyed many exchanges of city officials, along with the always popular and enjoyable high school student exchanges. We recently had the Choir L’Anacourse from Brest visit and sing in the Denver area. They performed at many schools and interacted with students and adults while visiting. Artists have come to Denver and have had exhibits around the city. In late 1996, participation between schools in Brest and Denver took place, making masks for the “Millenium 2000” project. Eventually 2,000 masks from around the world were displayed.

When Brest, France had their “Brest ‘96” Festival of Tall Ships, hosting over one million people and 300,000 ships in the harbor, Denver sent a representative from the Sister City committee.

The plan of the Denver-Brest Sister City Committee is to continue to promote cultural exchanges and to enhance the relationship between the two cities.

The City of Brest Park is located on Cherry Creek Drive South at Colorado Boulevard.