He comes to us first! rejoice the Berliners who waited for hours in the cold for the arrival of King Charles III in front of the Brandenburg Gate, the first stage of this three-day state visit. A highly symbolic place since the French Embassy and that of Great Britain face each other on the square adjacent to the door.
Berliners are well aware of this: it is only because the visit of King Charles III had to be canceled in Paris due to social unrest that the German capital is entitled to this honor. It must be admitted that the spectacle of the street is otherwise peaceful in Berlin. No trash on the sidewalks, no burning trash cans, no protests or fights. A warning strike in public transport did take place on Monday, but for one day only and with the utmost discipline. “Even those responsible for rolling out the red carpet in Paris were on strike! “Maked the security service in front of the Adlon hotel where the royal couple is staying.
The royal convoy from BER airport therefore passed through a city going about its business. Few cheering crowds on his way. In the early afternoon, most Berliners did not know why their city center was suddenly blocked off by the police. A thousand police and twenty dogs were mobilized to ensure the safety of the royal couple.
This is the sovereign's first foreign visit a few weeks before his coronation, which will take place on May 6 in London. Charles is a regular from Germany. He has already made more than 40 visits there as a prince. The first time, in 1962, he was 13 years old. He accompanied his father Prince Philip who came to visit his German family. It was Philip who piloted the plane from London. In 1987 in Munich, he was accompanied by his ex-wife, Diana, and a flurry of speculation about their marital difficulties and rumors of an impending divorce. Today, Queen Camilla is at her side.
In 1995, Prince Charles was invited to a city of Hellersdorf in the former East Berlin. He had met the employees of the Chez Moni hair salon there and then had a glass of Rotkäppchen, the very sweet sparkling wine made in the GDR, with a couple of inhabitants of one of the HLM bars. A crowd of onlookers had gathered in front of the door of the building. “Before people were summoned by force to come and applaud the heads of state of the Eastern countries passing through, today they come running of their own free will, enchanted,” commented a newspaper.
Germany received the new king with particular zeal. A first in the long history of state visits, military honors were not paid to him at Bellevue Palace, seat of the German president, but at the Brandenburg Gate which until 1989 separated east from west. . This exception to the rule shows the importance that Berlin gives to this visit. Its highlight: Thursday, March 30 at midday, King Charles will deliver a speech to the Bundestag. It is the first time that a monarch has been allowed to speak before the German parliament. He will be welcomed in the hemicycle by Chancellor Scholz. The speech will be broadcast live on television. A highly symbolic date since it was on March 29, 2017, just six years ago, that the British government announced to the European Council its decision to initiate Brexit. After these years of tension and turbulence, this trip, it is hoped to Berlin, should mark the beginning of an improvement in relations between the European Union and Great Britain.
The royal couple are staying in a suite at the Adlon Hotel with a view of the illuminated Brandenburg Gate at night. This legendary establishment had been reduced to a heap of ruins at the end of the war and rebuilt from scratch after unification. The ceremonial part will be held on Wednesday evening at the Palais Bellevue, seat of the presidency. A very modest castle if we compare it to Versailles. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a social democrat, invited leaders in the field of energy transition to a reception. It will be followed by a banquet at the Palais Bellevue. One hundred and thirty guests, tailcoats for the men and long dresses for the ladies, will attend. A splendor which very sober Germany is not used to. King Charles will toast in German.
Ukraine and the climate will be the two central themes of this visit. King Charles will visit the reception center for Ukrainian refugees established in the former disused Tegel airport. He will also go to Brandenburg, the region that surrounds Berlin. He, who has been passionate about the environment for years, will visit an organic farming operation. Its operators invite the king to make 150 wheels of cheese with them. They will be struck with a seal representing a crown and put up for sale.
On Friday, King Charles and Queen Camilla will take the ICE, the high-speed train infamous for its incessant delays, to Hamburg, a stage dedicated to painful history. When they arrive at Dammtor station, they will pay their respects at the memorial commemorating the convoys of Jewish children sent to Great Britain to protect them from Nazi persecution. The British royal couple will visit the monument in memory of the thousands of Jewish children sent by convoy and will then go to lay a wreath in front of the Church of Saint Nicholas, bombed during the war by the British and American allies in 1943.
