On the occasion of the 1955 May Festival, a delegation from the Italian city of Venice, led by Mayor Roberto Tognazzi, visited the Hessian state capital.

On May 23, Mayor Mix, on behalf of the city council, received the visitors at a diplomatic reception in the ballroom of the town hall. After mutual expressions of friendship and an invitation from the Venetians to make a return visit, the members of the delegation signed the city's Golden Book.

The Italians then presented their hosts with a faithful replica of a Venetian gondola. Mix returned the favor by handing over a Meissen porcelain bowl with a motif of Wiesbaden.