Tainan: A German couple had a unique Taiwanese wedding at a household registration office in Tainan Thursday after the bride discovered her "spiritual hometown" in the southern city during a visit last year and enlisted the help of Taiwanese officials.
According to Focus Taiwan, Greta Ott and Martin Beck exchanged wedding vows and rings at the city's Zhongxi Household Registration Office, witnessed by tourism and Tainan City government officials. The couple wore matching wedding attire with the groom's pink tie and a ribbon of the same color around the bride's waist, as per a city government statement issued on Thursday.
In Taiwan, a marriage becomes legally recognized after a couple registers their nuptials with a household registration office. Hsieh Chang-ming, director of the Taipei Tourism Office in the German city of Frankfurt, told CNA that he first heard about Ott's plan to get married in Taiwan from his colleague who inquired about the documents required for the wedding.
Ott recounted her trip to Taiwan to Hsieh when they met for coffee, explaining her wish to bring Beck to experience the friendliness of the Taiwanese people and the warmth she felt in Tainan as they planned their wedding, Hsieh said. The stories she shared with Hsieh included how locals helped her carry bags and gave directions after she got off the high-speed train in Tainan, and even accompanied her after she got lost, the Frankfurt-based official recounted.
Ott said she decided to visit Taiwan on her father's advice during a low point in her life. Her father, a physics professor who had visited Taiwan, often spoke about the enthusiastic people of Taiwan and its inclusive culture, Ott shared with Hsieh. Meanwhile, she found Tainan's temple culture soothing, according to the statement.
Ott described interactions in Taiwan as very different from those in Germany, yet natural and real, calling Tainan her "spiritual hometown." Promoting Taiwan can be achieved through small gestures in daily life, Hsieh told CNA, citing Ott's experiences.