In March 2015 , the town received international attention when 16 students and two teachers from the Joseph-König-Gymnasium in Haltern , were killed in the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash in the French Alps . They were on their way home from a student exchange with the Giola Institute in Llinars del Vallès , Catalonia , Spain . Haltern 's mayor , Bodo Klimpel , described it as " the darkest day in the history of our city . " Haltern is twinned with :
Germanwings Flight 9525
Germanwings Flight 9525
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