Germany’s ambassador to the UK met island officials and visitors on Guernsey, linking Liberation Day to lessons of history and reconciliation.
The German Ambassador to the UK, Her Excellency Susanne Baumann, was making a first visit to the islands, having only taken over the role last September.. It was the first visit from a German Ambassador for 10 years, and she had already taken in Alderney on Thursday evening.. She was joined in the island by a now-regular Liberation visitor, as TV ‘judge’, presenter and screen personality Rob Rinder appeared once again at the Specsavers Liberation
Tea Party in advance of last night’s Liberation Ball.. ‘When I first came here I didn’t really know what to expect,’ he said.. ‘People make assumptions, but Guernsey has a special brand of magic and a bubble which allows me to be alongside people who are my fellow British citizens who experienced and are now commemorating Liberation.. ‘That has its own complexity and history that I just love and love to share.’ Ambassador Baumann held
meetings with States officials and was looking forward to meeting with people involved in the exchange and twinning with Biberach.. ‘That fits very much into being here around Liberation Day, which stands for me for reconciliation, but which also stands for the lessons learned from German history, which comes with responsibility,’ she said.. ‘I would like to further explore how the people of the island of Guernsey and Germans regions and cities – especially Biberach
– can work together.’ The ambassador described her visit to the islands as ‘a very good experience’.. ‘I think we have to be careful that history does not repeat itself, and it’s important to remind ourselves that events in our history have caused suffering,’ she said.. ‘We see that our democratic systems, once again, are in danger from populism, from nationalism, and from lies promoted via social media, so I think it’s very important to
learn from our history and to work on reconciliation, and to make sure that history never repeats itself.’ Today town is the centre of activity for Liberation Day, with other official events taking place at the Last Post at St Andrew’s and a FreedomFest event at Sylvans in St Peter’s.. The Liberation Cavalcade runs from Torteval Church at 12.15pm and heads around the coast, with a stop at Pembroke from 1.40-2.30, before arriving in town
at 3pm.