The Windsors' whistle-stop tour of Germany headed west for a day trip to Frankfurt on Thursday. The first stop on the agenda for Queen Eliazbeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, was St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt, an appointment the queen mentioned in her evening speech at Bellevue Palace on Wednesday evening.

"Tomorrow I shall visit St. Paul's Church, where the first freely elected legislature in Germany met in 1848. The Frankfurt Parliament turned out to be a false dawn; it took another century and the loss of the most terrible wars in history to set Germany on the path of democracy," Queen Elizabeth II said.

DW's Carla Bleiker was taking in the mood in the city center, as crowds awaited the royals decked out in fitting apparel.

The royals were expected to dine at city hall with political, economic and social leaders. This would be followed by a public, meticulously scheduled balcony appearance.

The royals will then return to Berlin in time for an evening appointment at the British Embassy later on Thursday.

On Friday, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip move on to the former Nazi concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen.

msh/sms (dpa, AFP)