Before a speech in the Bundestag – the left criticizes the planned appearance of King Charles

The British King Charles III. and his wife Camilla are starting the second day of their state visit to Germany this Thursday. The central point is a speech by the monarch around noon in the Bundestag.

The left criticized the planned appearance in advance: "It is not appropriate that the highest democratic body bows to a monarch," said Linke boss Martin Schirdewan of the German Press Agency. "I also find it strange that in times of inflation and soaring poverty, the Bundestag is allowing someone who was literally born with a golden spoon in their mouth to be written into their family book."

The criticism of the deputy party chairman of the left, Ates Gürpinar, was even clearer: “I think it is absurd to let a king speak in the Bundestag. Let's remember: monarchies are basically dictatorships with more historical tinsel," Gürpinar told the Augsburger Allgemeine.

Gürpinar announced that he would stay away from the British king's speech in the plenary hall. Germany can be happy to have abolished the monarchy more than a hundred years ago. "To now bring a monarch with all honors into the heart of democracy is extremely forgetful of history," criticized Gürpinar. The fact that the Protocol Department of the London Court sets the rules is incompatible with the dignity of Parliament.

On Wednesday, after their arrival in Berlin, the British royal couple were greeted with military honors by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender at the Brandenburg Gate and cheered by onlookers. In the evening, the Federal President honored the monarch and his wife with a state banquet with 130 invited guests.

Both heads of state emphasized the importance of the close German-British relations and announced their intention to expand them further. "I can only assure you that during the time that I will have as king, I will do everything to further strengthen our relations," Charles said in his dinner speech. He and his wife were "deeply touched" by the warm welcome in Germany.

On Thursday morning, Charles first wants to sign Berlin's Golden Book and meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). He had not attended the state banquet the previous evening – in contrast to his predecessor Angela Merkel (CDU). An appointment at a weekly market in Berlin is also on the agenda. After the speech in the Bundestag, the state guest visited the arrival center for Ukrainian refugees at the former Tegel Airport together with Steinmeier. This ends the visit to the capital.

In the late afternoon, the King and Federal President make a detour to Brandenburg, which takes them to Finowfurt, north-east of Berlin. There they meet soldiers from a German-British engineer battalion from Minden. Not only is a conversation with Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke planned: soldiers are also assembling the last parts of a floating bridge over the Havel-Oder waterway, and the British king is to climb it.

Charles then drives to the eco-village of Brodowin, where he would like to find out more about how a particular type of cheese is made. Charles has been committed to biodynamic agriculture (demeter) for decades. As early as the 1980s, he switched to organic farming on his Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire.

In his after-dinner speech at the state banquet, the monarch said he had learned a lot about biodynamic agriculture during his previous visits to Germany. He also owes the significant improvements in his own farms and soils to German expertise. Camilla and Büdenbender want to visit a social project in Berlin-Neukölln and the Komische Oper in Berlin-Mitte at the same time.

It is Charles' first trip abroad in his new role as king, which he assumed after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September. Politically, the visit is considered significant because three years after Britain's exit from the EU, a new chapter in Britain's relations with Europe and Germany is to herald.

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