State
Banquet Speech
Berlin, 24 June 2015
Mr
President,
Prince Philip and I would like to
thank you and Frau Schadt for the warm welcome you have given us at the start
of our fifth State Visit to Germany. In the 50 years since our first visit, our
countries have lived through many profound changes. I am very glad to record
that one of the irreversible changes for the better in my lifetime has been in
the relationship between the United Kingdom and Germany.
Mr President, it falls to a Head
of State to lead a nation in the marking of anniversaries. Every month this
year we commemorate either the centenary of a momentous event in the First
World War; the 70th anniversary of a milestone at the end of the Second World
War; or, here in Germany, 25 years of reunification following the fall of the
wall which divided this city and this nation for so long.
But, tonight, I would also like
to cast back rather further in time. Last week in a water-meadow by the River
Thames, I attended an event to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. Of course, in common with
other events in our remote history, the precise facts of 1215 are disputed. The
consequences of the agreement between King John and his barons, however, are
not disputed: for the first time we established in England that no man should
be above the law and that individuals as well as rulers have rights. Thus began
the long, slow and interrupted process of our country's evolution into a
democracy.
Tomorrow I shall visit St Paul’s
Church, where the first freely-elected legislature in Germany met in 1848. The
Frankfurt Parliament turned out to be a false dawn; it took another century and
the loss of the most terrible wars in history to set Germany on the path of
democracy.
Earlier this year my cousins
visited Germany to mark with you, Mr President, more recent and painful
anniversaries. The Duke of Kent visited Dresden and The Duke of Gloucester
visited Bergen-Belsen. I myself shall visit Bergen-Belsen on Friday. These
visits underline the complete reconciliation between our countries.
Germany has reconciled with all
her neighbours. I pay tribute to the work of the German statesmen since the
Second World War who reinvented Germany and helped to rebuild Europe. I met
Chancellor Adenauer at Windsor in 1958. He rejected the idea of a neutral
Germany, preferring to anchor Germany in the West. His successors took up the
challenge of uniting Germany as a member of all the institutions of Europe and
the West.
Since 1945 the United Kingdom has
determined to number among Germany's very strongest friends in Europe. In the
intervening decades, Britain and Germany have achieved so much by working
together. I have every confidence that we will continue to do so in the years
ahead.
Since Berlin and Germany were
reunited there has been much to celebrate. Today I cruised with you, Mr
President, along the Spree. I saw fewer cranes than when I was last here in
2004. But still the most magnificent element of Berlin’s skyline is the
Reichstag dome, an enduring reminder of our cultural cooperation. Our work
together includes every part of life, from politics to commerce, from industry
to every aspect of the arts, in particular, music, museums and education.
We also saw a wonderful example
of partnership in education and science during our visit to the Technical
University this afternoon. The enthusiasm and interest our students and young
people have for each other’s ideas and work is our greatest asset: the next
generation is at ease with itself and with contemporaries across Europe in a
way that was never the case before.
The United Kingdom has always
been closely involved in its continent. Even when our main focus was elsewhere
in the world, our people played a key part in Europe. In the nineteenth century
in the Russian Empire a Welsh engineer called John Hughes founded a mining town
which is now Donetsk in Ukraine. And in the seventeenth century a Scottish
publican called Richard Cant moved his family to Pomerania; his son moved
further East to Memel and his grandson then moved South to Königsberg, where
Richard’s great-grandson, Immanuel Kant, was born.
In our lives, Mr President, we
have seen the worst but also the best of our continent. We have witnessed how
quickly things can change for the better. But we know that we must work hard to
maintain the benefits of the post-war world. We know that division in Europe is
dangerous and that we must guard against it in the West as well as in the East
of our continent. That remains a common endeavour.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I ask you
to rise and drink a toast to the President and the people of Germany. |
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