The first German State visit

Initiated and impeccably prepared by the British hosts, President Heuss' State Visit of 1958 was undoubtedly considered a success by all concerned. But as a result of a few unfriendly reports in the British and German press, the impression arose in Germany that Heuss had been coolly received and that the visit had been premature. When the President was walking through one of the Oxford Colleges for example, undergraduates were standing about ostensibly with their hands in their pockets. That this is what Oxford students usually do was not easily understood in Germany where, at a time before the sixties revolution in social manners, such apparent rudeness was taken as a personal affront. Moreover, it was thought that the London crowds had stood in sullen silence when the state coach with the Queen and the President was driven through the streets on his arrival. Had there not been a lack of enthusiasm?

President Heuss himself found these objections childish. There was no reason to expect Londoners to burst into cheers for an aged middle-class President. "Eighty per cent of the cheers were naturally meant for their young Queen, ten per cent for the horses and ten per cent for me", he said humorously. He was particularly aware of how much of a break-through it was and large-minded enough to be quite satisfied with the result. Some Rindviecher (blockheads), as he called them, had clearly drawn "the wrong conclusions in their five-finger exercises on the pulse of British public opinion".

Evidently, there was the usual "too-much-ness" of German eagerness and too little knowledge of what the British are really like. There was also an understandable German reluctance in remaining aware of the past, and the familiar desire, already noted by Madame de Stael, of wanting to be loved by everybody, and the tendency to be deeply hurt when this remains unfulfilled. Heuss knew very well how to distinguish between a few negative aspects and the reality of the occasion which was simply a part of the political development and mutual Vergangenheitsbewältigung, namely confronting and overcoming one's past.

In the second volume of his Memoirs entitled Von Adenauer bis Brandt, Hans von Herwarth has told how much trouble the hosts had taken to make the President comfortable. When finally Prince Philip asked him whether he had any special wishes, Heuss said that he would like to see the famous Holbein drawings which were in Windsor. But Windsor was not included in the tight schedule. However, on the final evening the Queen had a surprise in store for him. The priceless drawings had been brought to London. Because of the cost involved in normally transporting these treasures they were put on the floor of an army van, with a Corporal sitting on top of the valuable load. Heuss was, of course, delighted to see the famous portraits and especially appreciative of the noble royal gesture which confirmed the harmonious atmosphere that had characterised the whole visit. In her speech at the Gala Dinner at Buckingham Palace the Queen referred to her German ancestry which upset the British press. But, as Ambassador von Herwarth concluded: "What the Queen said was fully intended and approved of by the Cabinet. In the Macmillan Government's view it was time to state publicly how Anglo-German relations were to develop."

Enlarge image Princess Charming of her Time: Princess Margaret at the Reception for the German Federal President Theodor Heuss at the German Embassy on the occasion of the First German State Visit in October 1958.