News
TRH visit Berlin
28th April 2009
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall joined a raucous crowd today to watch an inter-faith football match.
Their Royal Highnesses were in Germany for the final leg of their European tour, and were swamped by supporters after they watched the match organised to promote integration among faiths in Berlin.
After being greeted at the Bellevue Palace by Horst Kohler, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, The Prince and The Duchess travelled to Katzback Stadium to watch two football matches and to view a number of projects to promote social integration, inclusion and interfaith dialogue.
At the annual Imams vs Clergy match, The Prince and The Duchess saw several players leave the field injured after being fouled during a competitive encounter which ended in a nill-all draw.
The Prince later presented the gold cup to both captains as the teams shared the spoils.
Christopher Jage-Bowler, a British born vicar who launched the annual event in the German city in 2005, said he was "honoured" to host Their Royal Highnesses at the match.
He started the matches in the wake of the London July 7th terror attacks in 2005.
"Having Prince Charles here will really put us on the map," he said.
"It's a great honour to have him here."
The Prince and The Duchess later travelled to an event at the British Embassy.
While The Duchess met Embassy staff, The Prince attended a seminar on youth integration in Germany.
Part of a series, the seminar was a platform to show the UK’s approaches and initiatives to promoting social mobility and removing barriers to social disadvantage, particularly amongst young immigrants.
Attending the seminar were policy-makers, business leaders, opinion-makers and civil society representatives, including The Prince’s Trust.
In the evening, The Prince and The Duchess attended a reception and dinner at the German Historical Muesum, where The Prince of Wales was presented with an award for his work in sustainable development.
His Royal Highness described Germany as "remarkable" as he accepted his German Sustainability Award 2008.
During his keynote speech The Prince said: "I particularly wanted to be here with you in person because, if I may say so, Germany is a remarkable country, not least because of the important environmental leadership that you have shown over the last thirty years.
"In many ways I cannot help wondering if I should not be giving you this award."
He went on to say that climate change was "undoubtedly the greatest challenge of our age".
The Prince added: "It seems to me that the German example demonstrates admirably how there need not be a choice between on the one hand protecting our planet's life support systems and, on the other, creating jobs and securing the kind of innovative, balanced economic development that reflects the urgent need to live off income rather than nature's rapidly depleting capital."
Click here to read The Prince’s speech in full.
The German Sustainability Award was established in 2008 by Stefan Schulze Hausmann to highlight the importance sustainable development in Germany and to encourage ecological and social responsibilty.
In their deliberations, the jury of internationally renowned experts placed particular emphasis on environment and climate-related commitment and sought to identify high-profile role models.
The main prize-giving ceremony was held in Dusseldorf on 5th December, for which The Prince recorded a video message. Their Royal Highnesses’ European tour gave presented The Prince with the opportunity to collect his Award in in person and to deliver his keynote speech.