Special ties link British royalty to Germany. The coronation of King Charles is followed with passion by the Germans, who however have no nostalgia for their empire.
THE European microphone, on this royal coronation day, with the monarchical sentiment and coronation seen from Germany. José-Manuel Lamarque interviews Kai Littmann, site director eurojournalist.eu.
franceinfo: In France, there is a certain enthusiasm for royal coronations, what about the German citizen?
Kai Littmann : Here too, this is of great interest. The mainstream media have debated such important questions as: which row will Harry be placed on? will they dare invite Andrew? The whole of Germany follows the coronation live. And of course there are specialist magazines in Germany where you learn all the details about the entire royal family. The death of Queen Elizabeth was a major event in the German media landscape, it is the same today for the coronation.
Germany is a republic, like France. Do you still have a little monarchist feeling?
There is a very small group called the Reichsbürger, ultra-right extremists who, indeed, dream of the return of the monarchy in Germany. But we are talking about 0.001% of the population. Generally, Germans are very happy to live in a Republic. The Empire is totally over, and it’s not coming back. Fortunately, because he no longer represents anything for the Germans.
The Windsor family, before 1918, was called Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, therefore a family of German origin, and the Mountbattens were called Battenberg. What is the link with Germany today?
Huge, we see it on the list of guests at the festivities in London: President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of course, but also the Duke of Baden, Bernhard von Baden (the grandmothers of Charles III and the Duke of Baden were sisters, there are therefore very close family ties), Duke Philip of Hohenlohe-Langeburg, a small region in southern Germany, who is the direct cousin of Charles III and therefore the closest relative of the new British king. There are still very strong links also with other families, such as the Welfen in Hanover who are also relatives of the royal family in Great Britain. Yes, the roots of the British Royal House are largely in Germany.
In the German aristocracy, when one is titled (count, viscount, baron, duke, etc.), does this appear on identity papers, whereas you are a Republic?
Absolutely. It is a right that was fixed in 1919, when the nobility as an entity was abolished with the creation of the Republic. Although the nobility still exists, especially in rural areas where you always have a local baron or a local duke who make rain or shine in their respective stronghold.
The connection of the German aristocracy with the British royal family means that there is still a form of empathy for the British monarchy in Germany?
Surprisingly, it is even reciprocal: the first trip of the new king was not to Paris – there were a few small problems preventing his visit – but to Berlin where he expressed himself partly in German, which he masters very well, in front of the Bundestag (the German Parliament). The Germans are very fond of this British royal house, I think they find themselves there a little bit.
We don’t know of aristocratic German politicians, is the road closed?
It is indeed a little closed. It is estimated that German aristocrats already have enough influence in everyday life. To make a career in politics, there was indeed the Lambsdorff family, they were four or five to be in politics (MEP, minister, etc.) but this is the exception that confirms the rule. There is no other noble family that has entered national politics and, ultimately, no one misses it…