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3w ago

On UK State Visit, Steinmeier Honors Coventry Bombing Victims at Ruined Cathedral

His stop in the city’s memorialized cathedral site underscored reconciliation built from wartime destruction.

Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier besucht am Freitag die vor 85 Jahren von der deutschen Luftwaffe zerbombte englische Stadt Coventry. In der Ruine der im November 1940 weitgehend zerstörten Kathedrale wird Steinmeier einen Kranz niederlegen.
Im englischen Coventry hat Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier der Opfer der deutschen Bombardierung im Zweiten Weltkrieg gedacht. In den Ruinen der bei einem NS-Luftangriff vor 85 Jahren zerstörten Kathedrale legte er einen Kranz nieder.

Overview

  • German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier laid a wreath in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral on December 5 during the final day of his three-day visit to the United Kingdom.
  • The ceremony marked the 85th anniversary of the November 14, 1940 Luftwaffe raid that killed more than 560 people and left the medieval cathedral a preserved shell.
  • A subsequent service in the postwar cathedral emphasized forgiveness and shared remembrance, with Dean John Witcombe highlighting a common story of destruction, rebuilding and friendship.
  • Young personnel from the Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe, along with students from Coventry and Dresden, took part in the commemoration, which included a reading by poet Durs Grünbein.
  • Coventry’s partnerships with Dresden and Kiel framed the visit’s reconciliation theme, and the state trip was set to conclude with an honorary doctorate for Steinmeier at the University of Oxford later in the day.