Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has been received with military honors at Bellevue Palace. During her fifth state visit to Germany, she is expected to lay a wreath at war memorial site "Neue Wache" later on Wednesday.
Image: Reuters/H. Hanschke
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The queen, in a white dress and matching hat, and Prince Philip were received with military honors at Bellevue Palace, the German president's residence.
They also posed for a picture with German President Joachim Gauck and his wife, Daniela Schadt. The queen then signed the visitors' book, and briefly met students in the palace garden.
Known for her love of horses, she was given a painting called "Horse in royal blue" by German artist Nicole Leidenfrost, who comes from near Hamburg.
Next, the queen and Prince Philip defied the cold and grey weather to go on a boat trip on Berlin's river Spree before meeting Chancellor Angela Merkel. No details of the conversation with the German chancellor have been made public.
In pictures: Queen Elizabeth II visits Germany
Europe's most famous and longest reigning monarch makes her fifth visit to Germany. During a three-day-trip, the queen is to meet the top dignitaries and pay respects to victims of the Nazis.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R. Michael
Military honors for the British queen
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, started their visit in Berlin on Tuesday evening, with the British monarch welcomed by a 21-gun salute and military jets flying overhead.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
If Berlin streets could talk...
Fans of British royalty took to the streets of Berlin to try and catch a glimpse of the queen on her way to the Hotel Adlon. Here the royal Bentley passes the famous Brandenburg Gate.
Image: Reuters/W. Rattay
Getting comfortable
After arriving to Berlin on Tuesday evening, the queen's entourage probably didn't have a difficult time finding their rooms overlooking the Brandenburg Gate. The Hotel Adlon flew the royal standard the queen's suite.
Image: Reuters/W. Rattay
A heavy escort
Berlin police said it would deploy close to 1,500 officers to keep the queen safe, during her first visit to Germany in a decade.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Fischer
A morning stroll with the German president
Wednesday's first meeting saw Queen Elizabeth be received by German head of state Joachim Gauck in the president's residence, Bellevue Castle.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
British weather for a Berlin cruise
After meeting President Gauck, the queen and her husband took a cruise down Berlin's Spree River in an open-topped boat.
Image: Reuters/P. Kopczynski
A marriage for the times
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, have been married since 1947, six years before the queen's coronation. The Duke of Edinburgh turned 94 in June.
Image: Reuters/H. Hanschke
The most powerful women in Europe?
German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the queen on at the Chancellery. Merkel also had a meeting scheduled with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Moments of remembrance
The queen laid a wreath at Neue Wache, the Berlin's memorial site for the victims of war and violence. On Thursday, the Queen and her husband will visit the former Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, which was liberated by British troops in April 1945.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Berry
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The Windsors will then go on to lay a wreath at "Neue Wache," the German capital's central memorial site for the victims of war and violence since 1993.
Queen Elizabeth will attend a lecture held in her honor at Berlin's Technical University (TU). Berlin's mayor Michael Müller will welcome her there.
The queen is also expected to visit Germany's financial capital, Frankfurt, where she'll visit the historic Paulskirche church. On Friday, she will visit the site of the Bergen-Belsen World War II concentration camp.
Before that, on Wednesday evening, she will return to Bellevue Palace, where a state banquet will be held in her honor.
British Prime Minister David Cameron is also scheduled to attend, in a move seen as signifying the importance of UK-German relations at a time when Cameron is seeking allies for his EU reform drive. He is also set to hold talks with Merkel in the afternoon.
The queen went straight from the boat to the chancelleryImage: Reuters/F. Bensch
It is Queen Elizabeth's fifth state visit to Germany. She first came in 1965, then in 1978, 1992 and 2004.
