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.<\/p>\n
King Charles III will welcome Steinmeier and his wife, Elke B\u00fcdenbender, 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. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Germany has apologized more than once for the Nazi regime\u2019s atrocities. And during his own state visit to Germany in 2023,<\/a> Charles acknowledged the devastation caused by the war, laying a wreath<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine.<\/p>\n