Remembrance Day 2011

Enlarge image (© Michael Debets) About a hundred people attended this year's German Remembrance Day, which took place in Glencree (Co. Wicklow) on 13 November 2011. The commemoration began with an ecumenical service conducted by the pastor of the Lutheran Church in Ireland, Mrs Corinna Diestelkamp, as well as Father John Sinnott, the Catholic parish priest of Glencree. The service was followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the nearby German military cemetery. Among the guests were councillor Pat Casey, representative of the county mayor of Wicklow, who delivered a speech, as well as representatives of the Irish Naval Association, the Royal British Legion and the UN Veteran's Association, who all laid a wreath. Ambassador Dr. Lübkemeier laid a wreath together with colonel Haller, German military attaché based in London. To our sincere regret, Prof. Hannemann, Vice-President of the German War-Graves Commission (VdK), was unable to travel to Ireland due to an illness. Please find the Ambassador's speech and a commemorative address of Prof. Hannemann (read out by the Ambassador on that day) below. A musical background was provided by the choir of the Goethe-Institut Dublin and trumpet player Dr. Wolfgang Marx. The day concluded with refreshments and a light lunch at the invitation of the Ambassador.