The British Queen Elizabeth II has been to Germany several times. Some special moments:
Touching experience – In 1965, Elizabeth II came for the first time. In Berlin, which was still divided at the time, the royal convoy sometimes had trouble making its way through the cheering crowds. For the first time, the Queen and her husband Prince Philip saw the separation barriers in the middle of the city. Her car drove slowly past the wall. In front of the Schöneberg town hall, where around 100,000 people had gathered, the monarch called her stay in Berlin “a deeply moving experience”.
Factory visit – At that time, the monarch also got a direct impression of the German working world. A visit to the Huckingen iron and steel works of Mannesmann AG in Duisburg was on the agenda. After a tour of the dusty and sooty factory roads, she climbed the iron steps to the blast furnace stage to witness a furnace tapping. Like everyone else, she wore a hard hat.
Farewell – The visit ended with a glamorous ship parade. The royal yacht “Britannia” left Hamburg’s Überseebrücke for a trip to England – accompanied by four warships and boats from the water police. Tens of thousands of onlookers lined the banks of the Elbe to experience the exit of the royal visit. At the ship greeting station near Wedel, instead of a salute, colorful rockets exploded in the night sky.
Visit to East Germany – In 1992, she was particularly interested in the east of the reunified country. With her visit to Dresden, almost 50 years after the devastating bombing raid on the city by Allied aircraft, she sent a sign of reconciliation. In Leipzig she followed the traces of the peaceful revolution in the GDR at the end of the 1980s. She set foot on East German soil for the first time at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
Embassy opening – In 2000, Elizabeth II became the first reigning monarch in the history of the kingdom to open a British embassy. The new building near the Brandenburg Gate was erected on the spot where the old representation, which was destroyed in World War II, had stood.
S-Bahn ride – For her state visit in 2004, the protocol came up with something special: a ride on the Berlin S-Bahn. In the panoramic train on the way to Potsdam, the Queen was able to get an idea of how the once divided city was changing.
Queen at fashion show in Dusseldorf
Fashion show – The queen was visibly “amused” by a fashion show by German-English designers, which loosened up the 2004 festival menu of the Düsseldorf state government. In particular, the cheeky creations of the fashion designer Anja Gockel amused the monarch.
Holocaust commemoration – In 2015, 70 years after the end of World War II, the Queen entered a former concentration camp for the first time. It was her personal wish to lay a wreath in memory of the victims of National Socialism at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial (Lower Saxony) and to speak to Holocaust survivors and British Army veterans. Elizabeth II was still a young princess when the British liberated Bergen-Belsen in 1945.
Guest gift – Federal President Joachim Gauck presented the Queen with a painting by artist Nicole Leidenfrost in 2015: “Horse in Royal Blue”. It shows Elizabeth as a girl on a blue pony. You can also see her father George VI. in a yellow jacket. The Queen’s comment: “That’s a fun color for a horse”. But she also remarked: “Is that supposed to be my father?” The British press had little love for the gift. “Is it bad painting or just badly painted?” asked art critic Mark Hudson. Leidenfrost was certain: “The queen liked my picture”. (dpa)