One week from today: an imperial and royal wedding in Germany

by Sofia on 20 August, 2011

in Royals & Nobles

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Exactly one week from today the wedding between Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia and Princess Sophie of Isenburg will be celebrated in Potsdam, Germany. Because of this the hotels are almost all fully booked since a long time as monarchists, royalists, royal watchers and a large band of media representatives are expected to descend upon the city during the week.

I alone know of more than a handful of people who will be there and one of them will be me; from Wednesday to Sunday I will stay in Potsdam to visit historic palaces and watch the wedding celebrations on Friday and Saturday. So keep an eye on my Twitter feed and Facebook page to see any updates posted from there!

Next Friday, 26 August, the wedding celebrations will start with a benefit concert for the Princess Kira of Prussia Foundation at the Konzerthaus Berlin, one of the world’s best concert venues, at the Gendarmenmarkt square in Berlin. The concert is set to begin at 7 PM and RBB (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg), who has acquired the broadcasting rights for the wedding, will be reporting from the location. And I will definitely be standing on the square to watch guests arrive.

Saturday 27 August is the wedding day. The ceremony is scheduled for noon and will take place in the Friedenskirche (Church of Peace) in the palace park of Sanssouci in Potsdam. The bride, Princess Sophie, will be taken to the church in a silver Rolls Royce that belongs to a friend of the groom. According to media reports she will wear an (Isenburg) family tiara and veil but the dress look and designer remains a well guarded secret.

The wedding service will be ecumenical as the groom is evangelical-lutheran and the bride catholic. Evangelican pastor Michael Wohlrab from the Empress Augusta Victoria Foundation in Jerusalem, a friend of the groom, and retired Abbot Gregor Henckel-Donnersmarck of Heiligenkreuz Abbey, a friend of the Isenburg family, will preside over the ceremony together.

Not many details are known yet about the program for the service, only that Gerald Woehl, a famous organ builder and restorer with a studio in Potsdam, will play the church’s organ and that the Royal Danish Brass from Copenhagen will perform.

When the newly married couple exits the church they will get into a dark blue open landau carriage drawn by six Brandenburg warmblood horses from the Brandenburg State Stud at Neustadt, established by King Friedrich Wilhelm II in 1788. The carriage, restored in the 1990′s for a Potsdam visit by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, has comfortable padded benches and will take the bridal couple on a cortège through the city and to the Neue Kammern (New Chamber) at Sanssouci.

At Neue Kammern there will be a reception for the church guests, around 750 has been the reported number of invitees. Later in the evening there will be a gala dinner at the Orangerie (conservatory) where the reported number of guests is down to around 350 and the menu will feature specialties of the state of Brandenburg.

RBB (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg) will air direct from the wedding on Saturday 27 July between 11 AM and 2 PM, on TV and online, and then return with a 40-minute summary of highlights from the day at 8:15 PM in the evening. They will be allowed to film the arrival to the dinner.

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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Craig August 22, 2011 at 18:02

Will there be coverage of the wedding of Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia on the internet that we in the USA will be able to
view?

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Sofia Svanholm August 23, 2011 at 16:09

The broadcasting company RBB (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg) will air it online and so far they haven't stated anything about IP restrictions so I assume the live broadcast will be available to the whole world via their website .rbb-online.de. The regular TV broadcast on Saturday starts at 11 AM CET, I guess it will be the same online.

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Tobias Lein August 24, 2011 at 06:18

Good Morning, Sofia,

My name is Tobias from the German assication Tradition and Leben (Life). I`ve you like to be very close at the Weeding in Potsdam please feel free to contact me. We have next to the church an Weddinggarden with Brunch and also Publicviewing. When all the Geust comes we stay very close to them. It would be an honor for us..Please check our Homepage for Details. The Homepage is also in English translatete with Google… If you answer i give the Adress and Phonenumber..
Greetings Tobias

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Tobias Lein August 24, 2011 at 06:20
Bowmanave September 5, 2011 at 08:19

They are probably bitter they did not get an invitation to what is probably one of the biggest weddings in a generation.

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Felix December 19, 2011 at 15:34

Hi everyone. Can anyone help me to obtain a copy on DVD of the full royal wedding ceremony in Potsdam? I live in Spain and it was not transmitted here. Please tel me how muh it will cost? Thank you and I look forward to your replies, Felix

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