King Charles III - Inside the Bundestag

By Jessica Gregory - 30/3/2023

King Charles III made a speech in German earlier today to the Bundestag, being the first British monarch in history to do so.

In the early hours of this morning, I listened to a speech made by the German President Frank- Walter Steinmeier. This was mainly as a means to test my language skills through listening, but it in fact became more useful than even this.

Steinmeier began by welcoming the new chapter ahead for the relationship between Germany and the United Kingdom after the last six years.

However, the speech was largely focused on the environmental challenges facing both countries at this time. This included many topical issues, including plans for renewable energy and the Paris Agreement, which was signed in 2015.

This was incredibly interesting, as we have just finished the Environment Theme as part of our German A Level course.

Those interested in the speech can view it here.

After listening to this speech, I was very interested to listen to the King's German address in the Bundestag as part of his first state visit to the country as the monarch.

Many of the same issues were raised regarding the environment as in Seinmeier's speech.

The monarch addressed Germany's leading role for the future, including the use of wind turbines, new energy sources, and the development of new technology.

Additionally, he commented that Germany is currently the biggest producer of offshore wind across Europe, before proceeding to address the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue.

The event took place earlier this week (on the 28th and 29th of March). Those interested in learning more can do so here.

The King also considered the role of the newly-founded Just Energy Transition Partnership, which you can learn more about here.

However, other issues raised included the links and improving relationship between Germany and the United Kingdom, which reflected the words of Steinmeier's speech.

Not only did King Charles address the historical differences and links between the two nations, but also his personal experience with Germany.

He gave many thanks to the German population for their response to the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II, and to their support of Ukraine.

Both these speeches addressed very topical issues, most notably the environment, which, as already mentioned, is relevant to the A Level syllabus.

This helped teach about the importance of environmental issues in Germany, and furthermore, projects that are being implemented in order to reduce the effects of climate change.

Moreover, the King's speech also briefly discussed the history of Germany, which could be linked in with the Reunification theme in the course.

Although this doesn't directly tie in with my syllabus, and wasn't a particularly prominent part of the speech, it was interesting to learn how the relationship between the two countries has developed.

I have always enjoyed learning about the political side of the German A Level course, and this perfectly suits many of the topics that the King raised.

Furthermore, it allowed me to practice my listening and transcribing skills, and identify mistakes that were made during King Charles' speech.

Listening to these speeches are incredibly useful, and I would like to do so more in the future in order to expand my knowledge of German politics.

Those that are interested can listen to the speech in German here.