WOULD-be designers have been asked to dream up an official logo for the 70th anniversary of Oxford's twinning with German city Bonn.

The winner's design will be unveiled this year when celebrations take place to mark links first established after the Second World War.

Bonn, located in western Germany on the banks of the Rhine, is a university town and was also the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven.

Oxford City Council said logo competition entries should represent 'the two cities, their rich culture and strong twinning links'.

There will be categories for primary school aged children, secondary school aged children, adults and an overall winner.

Councillor Christine Simm, board member for culture and communities, added: "Every four years, Bonn Week is celebrated in one of its twin link cities.

"Oxford has the great pleasure and honour of hosting Bonn Week 2017 in the same year that we are to celebrate 70 years of Bonn-Oxford linkage.

"This is a great milestone and it’s only right that we should have a logo to remember it by."

One of the first official Anglo-German links to be formally established after the Second World War, Oxford has been twinned with Bonn since 1947.

In keeping with Bonn's musical heritage as Beethoven's birthplace, the twinning has seen Oxford choirs, bands and orchestras perform regularly in Bonn with their partner groups.

There have also been several visits from delegations over the years, including the Lord Mayor of Oxford and other self-funding members.

Former city councillor Elise Benjamin, who visited in 2011 as Lord Mayor, said: "It was a very brave step for Oxford and Bonn to twin so soon after the war and in the current climate now, with Brexit, it is even more important that we maintain our links with other European cities.

"Whenever we have visited it has always been extremely friendly and Bonn is a wonderful city.

"That is why you get so many people self-funding, because there are many longstanding friendships the link has helped form.

"For me it was particularly interesting to see how another city works and learn from councillors there what they did and what powers they had."

Every four years there is a week of events in either Oxford or Bonn to celebrate our longstanding friendship, called 'Bonn Week'.

The German city is also the namesake of Bonn Square, in central Oxford.

In May 2009, a one-metre-high bronze sculpture by Diana Bell was unveiled there, consisting of two piles of books standing together, to symbolise the close link between the two university cities.

The city council said the overall winner of the logo design competition would be used on marketing material in this year's Bonn Week, which will run from May 25 to 28.

The competition will run from January 13 to February 13.

All entries must be sent via email to internationallinks@oxford.gov.uk with the entrant’s name, age, email and their school’s name (if applicable).

For information, visit: oxford.gov.uk/bonnweekcompetition