King Charles lets the Germans feel a gap

"You are beautiful demograds!" That's how Saxony's former king Friedrich August III. mocked the cheering crowds that greeted him in Dresden in the 1920s. In view of the almost reverential way in which Germany's representative Charles III. and Camilla received, one could be tempted to relate Friedrich August's quote to the members of parliament. At best, the party leader of the left tried to make a name for himself with a few anti-monarchical slogans, but he came across as more like a pubescent schoolboy writing a forbidden word on the blackboard.

Precisely because Germany is so thoroughly republican, it can afford to be polite, even cordial, to the British king. The German Empire existed for just 47 years, the Federal Republic has already 74 years behind it. That is nothing compared to the British monarchy, however, which can almost uninterruptedly trace its origins back to the 10th century – the penultimate Charles was beheaded in 1649, the brother of the last Charles was dethroned by Parliament in 1688.

It is perhaps this connection with history that demands respect, even reverence, from a people with such a lack of tradition as the Germans. Not even the oedipal attacks of his younger son Harry can change that.

And Charles comes as a representative of a country that, behind the facade of venerable institutions, is changing much faster than Germany. The prime minister who approved the king's speech to the Bundestag is called Rishi Sunak. The leader of the party that wants Scotland's independence, and who also governs Scotland as First Minister, is Humza Yousaf. Yousaf is for Islam and marriage for all and against the monarchy. Sunak is a conservative Hindu.

Perhaps Great Britain can cope with these social changes precisely because its institutions – above all the monarchy – suggest continuity. We are good democrats. But Charles lets us feel the gap left by the German upheavals.