German president’s U.K. state visit will celebrate strategic ties and recall historic scars

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, front left, and his wife, Elke Budenbender, right, leave Westminster Abbey in London, England, Nov. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

LONDON — German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be greeted by brass bands and royalty Wednesday when he arrives for a U.K. state visit that will celebrate the close ties between the countries while also remembering the scars of the past.

King Charles III will welcome Steinmeier and his wife, Elke Büdenbender, to Windsor Castle for the start of a three-day tour featuring all the pomp and ceremony the U.K. traditionally rolls out for its honored guests. But there will also be a somber note as Steinmeier becomes the first German head of state to make a formal state visit to Britain in 27 years.

On Friday, the couple will visit Coventry Cathedral to commemorate the Nazi bombing of the city, which killed at least 568 people and destroyed or damaged more than half of its homes on the night of Nov. 14, 1940. It was the single most concentrated attack on a British city during World War II.

Germany has apologized more than once for the Nazi regime’s atrocities. And during Charles’ own state visit to Germany in 2023, he acknowledged the devastation caused by the war, laying a wreath at the remains of St. Nikolai Church in Hamburg to commemorate the more than 30,000 people who were killed during the Allied bombing of the city in July 1943.

But the timing of this event makes it unique, a longtime royals expert said,

“Earlier this year we’ve marked the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe and then in Japan,” said Joe Little, the managing editor of Majesty Magazine. “It’s a particularly poignant time in British and German history, so the fact that this is being factored into the state visit clearly is important to both sides.”

While state visits are hosted by the king, they are scheduled at the request of the elected government to reward friends — and sometimes nudge reluctant partners — with the red carpet treatment only Britain’s royal family can provide.

So there will be the glittering tiaras, displays of military precision and a sumptuous banquet served on 200-year-old silver. There’s also a huge Christmas tree in St. George’s Hall.

But it’s a spectacle with a purpose. Britain and Germany are seeking to underscore the bonds between the two countries as they face the challenges of the war in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump’s America First policies, which threaten to upend longstanding trade and security relationships.

The trip will build on the success of Charles’ state visit to Germany, when he displayed an ability to properly roll his R’s while flipping between German and English in a speech to the Bundestag, the German parliament.

Making his first state visit since ascending the throne, Charles stressed the long-standing ties between the two countries and the importance of future cooperation.

Before arriving in the U.K., Steinmeier emphasized that Germany and the United Kingdom are on the path to rapprochement after the difficult Brexit years and that it was necessary to move closer together. Charles’ visit to Germany in March 2023 was a signal, Steinmeier said, according to German news agency dpa.

“This shows how important German-British relations are to both of us, that German-British friendship is a matter close to our hearts,” Steinmeier said.

British officials hope those ties will be cemented by coverage of the glittering events at Windsor Castle.

“It will produce wonderful pictures and these will be seen as symbols for the British public and the German public,’’ said Gerhard Dannemann, former head of the Centre for British Studies at Humboldt Universität in Berlin. “And the hope is that ...the German president can emulate,’’ what Charles did in 2023.

Danica Kirka, The Associated Press