It was September of 1939 and Europe faced the Second World War. Forty- six-year-old Gopalswamy Doraiswamy Naidu from Coimbatore was on a business trip to Germany and was at Holzmaden, Esslingen. He had no place to stay or get vegetarian food and spent a night under the open sky.
Berta Stoll, wife of Gottlieb Stoll, saw G.D. Naidu and invited him to their home, which was nearby. Naidu stayed with the Stoll family for four or five days, cooked his own food with vegetables picked from their garden and thus began the story of a friendship, which has lasted for 75 years, between the two families.
A few years after his visit to Germany, when businesses were down in that country and there were no buyers for German products, Mr. Naidu wrote to his friends the world over, recommending Festo products from the company of the Stolls.
What makes the bonding between the two families significant is that in the last seven-and-a-half decades, it has expanded to become a relationship between two cities (Coimbatore and Esslingen) and the two countries.
About 20 members of the Stoll family are here on a five-day visit. The second, third and fourth generations of the two families — Stoll and G.D. Naidu- gathered in the city on Sunday to celebrate 75 years of their friendship.
Members of the two families recollected the visits to India and Germany, their education and early days of work at each other’s factories, exchanged gifts and cut a cake.
There is a proposal to twin Coimbatore and Esslingen and the Esslingen Coimbatore Association has been formed. Over the years, the Stolls have also contributed to institutes and hospitals here.
"The Stoll family is into water conservation and research on waste water treatment. We can work together for water conservation and waste water treatment projects here,” says Vanitha Mohan, Managing Trustee of Siruthuli.
According to Coimbatore Mayor P. Rajkumar, cooperation between Esslingen and Coimbatore will help in technology transfer and exchange of ideas. The Mayor of Esslingen is expected to visit Coimbatore next year and efforts are on to have an agreement between the two cities.
“The common interests and value systems have strengthened the friendship between the two families over the years and the friendship has made Coimbatore attractive to them, says a member of the G.D. Naidu family.
