President Weizsäcker in Westminster
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Richard von Weizsäcker, President of the Federal Republic Germany, with Ambassador Rüdiger von Wechmar during the State Visit in London in 1986.
Richard von Weizsäcker, President of the Federal Republic of Germany was the first German Head of State to address the members of both Houses of Parliament in the Royal Gallery in Westminster on 2 July 1986. He said in the course of his address:
"I firmly believe that we need Britain's specific contribution, not only towards the further internal development of the Community but also, and above all, towards the pursuit of our common European strength and responsibility vis-à-vis the world. That contribution consists of your experience, your sober judgment of global developments, your imagination and pioneering spirit, and your pragmatism.
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, a professor from Göttingen in the 18th century and a subject of George III, expressed his respect for the British way of life when he said: "If I had children and means I would send them to England up to the fifteenth year till the capacity to think for themselves had become a habit and their natural common sense had been firmly established." And in 1828 Goethe exclaimed: "If only we could teach the Germans to be less philosophical and more active, less theoretical and more practical, like the British." I am neither a poet nor a philosopher, but my experience as a student in your country before the War left a deep and lasting impression on me. In this country life is not governed by ideas; the ideas come from life itself. What we value in the British is that they do not talk too soon about principles but rather put reason before ideology, and, wisely refraining from dogmatism, are ready for compromise, and that, nevertheless, their firm convictions gave them sufficient reserves for the finish. I admit we do not always find these virtues very convenient when we are at the receiving end in negotiations, but this is why we know how valuable they are for our common future."
