List of international presidential trips made by Joachim Gauck

This is a list of presidential visits to foreign countries made by Joachim Gauck, the current President of Germany. Gauck was elected and assumed the office for a five-year term on 18 March 2012.

Vergangenheitsbewältigung (which essentially means "coming to terms with the past") is an important subject of Gauck's foreign travel. He visited Lidice in the Czech Republic, Sant'Anna di Stazzema in Italy, Oradour-sur-Glane in France, and Lingiades in Greece, sites of atrocities committed by the Nazis during the Second World War.

2012

Date	Countries	Places visited	Narrative
26–27 March	Poland	Warsaw	Inaugural visit to President Bronisław Komorowski; Gauck also met with Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
16–17 April	Belgium France	Brussels Strasbourg	Inaugural visit to the institutions of European Union and NATO: Gauck met with Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Belgium Elio Di Rupo, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz.
4 May	Sweden	Stockholm	Gauck was received by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at Stockholm Palace and attended the 400th anniversary celebrations of the Tyska Skolan (German School) in Gamla stan.
5–6 May	Netherlands	Breda Amsterdam	Gauck became the first foreign head of state to participate in the Liberation Day celebrations, in the course of which he delivered a speech. He met with Queen Beatrix and Crown Prince Willem-Alexander; together, they took a boat trip on Amstel river.
28–31 May	Israel West Bank	Tel Aviv Jerusalem Rehovot Ramallah	In Tel Aviv, Gauck was received by President of Israel Shimon Peres and met with further politicians including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and leader of the opposition Shelly Yachimovich. During his stay, the German President visited the grave of Ignaz Bubis (the former President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany), the Yad Vashem memorial, and the Weizmann Institute of Science and came together with survivors of The Holocaust and the Israeli delegation of the 1972 Summer Olympics. In Ramallah, he opened a Germany-funded girls school and met with Palestinian leaders Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad.
11 June	Switzerland	Chur	Gauck attended the annual informal meeting of the German speaking heads of state with President of Austria Heinz Fischer, Crown Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and President of the Swiss Confederation Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.
15 June	Italy	Rome	Inaugural visit to President Giorgio Napolitano; Gauck also met with Prime Minister Mario Monti.
2 July	France	Paris	Inaugural visit to President François Hollande.
27–28 July	United Kingdom	London	Gauck attended a reception at Buckingham Palace for foreign heads of state hosted by Queen Elizabeth II due to the beginning of the 2012 Summer Olympics, as well as the opening ceremony later that evening. On the next day, he met with German athletes at the Olympic Village and watched a gymnastics competition at the North Greenwich Arena.
2 August	Poland	Kostrzyn nad Odrą	Together with President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski, Gauck opened the Przystanek Woodstock rock music festival.
16 August	Austria	Vienna	Inaugural visit to President Heinz Fischer; Gauck also met with Chancellor Werner Faymann and visited the Austrian National Library.
29–30 August	United Kingdom	London	Gauck attended the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympics. On the next day, he came together with athletes at the Paralympic Village and presented the medals to the winners of the Men's time trial cycling event.
11 September	Denmark	Copenhagen	Inaugural visit to Queen Margrethe II; Gauck also met with members of the Danish government and parliament.
10 October	Czech Republic	Prague Lidice	Gauck met with President Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Petr Nečas as well as activists of the Velvet Revolution. In order to mark the 70th anniversary of the nazi massacres in retaliation of Operation Anthropoid, he visited the Lidice Memorial.
13 November	United Kingdom	London	Completing a series of inaugural visits to European neighboring and close partner states, Gauck was received by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace and attended a discussion about the different views on the future of Europe with British politicians and society members at the residence of the German ambassador.
19–20 November	Italy	Naples	Trilateral meeting with Presidents Giorgio Napolitano and Bronisław Komorowski of Italy and Poland: This included the signing of the Naples Appeal calling for the overcoming of the economical and financial crisis, and a memorial ceremony honoring Polish freedom fighter Gustaw Herling-Grudziński.
5–6 December	Holy See	Vatican City	Gauck was received by Pope Benedict XVI for a private audience and met with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone. He also paid a visit to the Collegio Teutonico.
6–7 December	Croatia	Zagreb	Gauck was received by President Ivo Josipović and had a talk with Prime Minister Zoran Milanović concerning the Accession of Croatia to the European Union.
17–19 December	Afghanistan	Mazar-i-Sharif Kabul	Gauck met with Bundeswehr soldiers at Camp Marmal as well as German humanitarian workers. In Kabul, he was received by President Hamid Karzai and honored with the Order of the Sun.

2013

Date	Countries	Places visited	Narrative
25–26 February	Switzerland	Geneva	First in a series of journeys to institutions concerned with the protection of the human rights (because Germany had been elected a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for a three-year term beginning 1 January 2013): Gauck gave a speech at the UNHRC, met with the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and visited the grave of Nobel Peace Laureate Ludwig Quidde.
17–20 March	Ethiopia	Addis Ababa Lalibela	During his first journey to Africa, Gauck met with President Girma Wolde-Giorgis and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, as well as Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (the chairperson of the African Union Commission). He gave a speech addressing the Permanent Representatives' Committee of the African Union on occasion of the 50th anniversary of the union and visited the grave of Gudina Tumsa. In Lalibela, he visited the Church of Saint George and had talks with representatives of the different religions in Ethiopia.
24 March	Italy	Sant'Anna di Stazzema	On the invitation of President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano, Gauck attended the memorial ceremony of a World War II massacre.
22 April	France	Strasbourg	Second in a series of journeys to institutions concerned with the protection of the human rights: Gauck visited the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe, where he delivered a speech.
8–16 May	Colombia Brazil	Bogotá Medellín São Paulo Rio de Janeiro	This seven-days trip to South America marked Gauck's first major foreign journey during which he was accompanied by a delegation of German business and trade representatives. In Colombia, Gauck was received by President Juan Manuel Santos and gave a speech about Vergangenheitsbewältigung and reconciliation at the University of the Andes on the occasion of recent peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC rebels. Also, he met with members of human rights organizations at Biblioteca España in Medellín. In Brazil, he was received by President Dilma Rousseff. Among other appointments, Gauck visited the Volkswagen factory near São Paulo, met with Governor of Rio de Janeiro Sérgio Cabral Filho as well as members of the National Truth Commission, and visited the "model favela" of Dona Marta.
30 May	Netherlands	The Hague	Third in a series of journeys to institutions concerned with the protection of the human rights: Gauck visited the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice.
5–13 July	Finland Latvia Estonia Lithuania	Savonlinna Turku Riga Tallinn Vilnius Klaipėda Nida	Gauck toured the countries of north eastern Europe in order to illustrate their strong ties with Germany, as well as on the purpose of Vergangenheitsbewältigung concerning the occupation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania during World War II. He was accompanied by a delegation of German businessmen and investors. Following him attending the opening performance of the annual Savonlinna Opera Festival together with President of Finland Sauli Niinistö and being formally received at the President's summer residence near Turku on the next day, Gauck paid State visits to the Baltic states. In Riga, he was received by President of Latvia Andris Bērziņš at the House of the Blackheads on 7 July, which was followed by a visit of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia. Also, Gauck had talks with Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis and Solvita Āboltiņa, the Speaker of the Saeima. In Estonia, he met with President Toomas Hendrik Ilves at his summer residence and was formally received at Kadriorg Palace in Tallinn on the following day (9 July), which was followed by a memorial ceremony at the War of Independence Victory Column and a visit of the Museum of Occupations. The day concluded with a state dinner at the Estonian Maritime Museum. The next day, Gauck met with Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and visited St Mary's Cathedral. Lithuania marked the final destination on the German President's route. On 11 July, he was received by head of state Dalia Grybauskaitė at the Presidential Palace and met members of the Lithuanian parliament; also, Gauck attended a ceremony at the Independence Memorial. The next day, he had a talk with Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius and attended discussions on the future development of Europe and the Soviet/German Occupations of Lithuania. Gauck's journey concluded with visits to the site of the planned reconstruction of St. John's Church in Klaipėda and the Thomas Mann Cultural Centre in Nida.
19 July	Austria	Salzburg	Gauck met with President Heinz Fischer and delivered the opening speech at the annual Salzburg Festival.
3–5 September	France	Paris Oradour-sur-Glane Marseille	First state visit of a German President to France in 16 years on occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty: Gauck was received by President François Hollande at the Élysée Palace and met with Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. The two Presidents attended a memorial ceremony at Oradour-sur-Glane, the site of a World War II massacre committed by members of the Waffen-SS. Gauck concluded his stay with a visit of Marseille, in that year a European Capital of Culture.
9 September	Austria	Innsbruck	Gauck attended the annual informal meeting of the German speaking heads of state with President of Austria Heinz Fischer, Crown Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and President of the Swiss Confederation Ueli Maurer.
7–9 October	Poland	Kraków	On 7 October, Gauck met with Presidents Giorgio Napolitano and Bronisław Komorowski of Italy and Poland, to discuss the political developments since their last convention in the previous year which had included the signing of the Naples Appeal. Later that day, the three presidents had a talk with Viktor Yanukovych, the President of Ukraine, which dealt with the Ukraine–European Union relations. On 8 and 9 October, Gauck, Napolitano and Komorowski attended the 2013 Arraiolos meeting with another five non-executive presidents of EU member states.
18 October	Poland	Słubice	Together with Bronisław Komorowski, the President of Poland, Gauck opened the academic term at Collegium Polonicum (pl) in Słubice and Viadrina European University in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, which is located on the other bank of the Oder river.
10 December	South Africa	Johannesburg	Gauck attended the state memorial service for Nelson Mandela and visited Liliesleaf Farm.

2014

Date	Countries	Places visited	Narrative
4–12 February	India Burma	New Delhi Bangalore Naypyidaw Yangon	During his state visit to India, Gauck was received by President Pranab Mukherjee had talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and further politicians and delivered a speech at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Other appointments saw him visiting businesses in Bangalore and a German-funded coir development aid project. Gauck continued his journey with an official visit to Burma due to the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. He was received by President Thein Sein, met with Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and delivered a speech addressing the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
5–7 March	Greece	Athens Lingiades Ioannina	Gauck paid a state visit to the Hellenic Republic, during which he was received by President Karolos Papoulias, had talks with further Greek politicians and intellectuals and delivered a speech at the Acropolis Museum "On the Heritage and Future of Europe". Gauck also visited the memorial at Lingiades, a village where in 1943, the 1st Mountain Division of the Wehrmacht had commited a massacre killing 87 civilians, as well as the synagoge of the Jewish community in Ioannina, commemorating their deportation to Auschwitz 70 years earlier.
1–2 April	Switzerland	Bern Geneva	During his official stay in Switzerland, Gauck was received by President Didier Burkhalter, attended a discussion about the concept of direct democracy and paid a visit to CERN.
26–29 April	Turkey	Kahramanmaraş Ankara Istanbul	Before being officially received by President Abdullah Gül, Gauck visited a camp for refugees of the Syrian Civil War near Kahramanmaraş, as well as a Bundeswehr unit operating the MIM-104 Patriot as part of Operation Active Fence. In Ankara, he also met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and delivered a speech at the Middle East Technical University on the Germany–Turkey relations. In Istanbul, he visited Hagia Sofia and opened the German-Turkish University.
4–7 May	Czech Republic	Prague Terezín Mladá Boleslav	At the beginning of his state visit, Gauck was received by President Miloš Zeman and had talks with Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and other Czech politicians. On 6 May, he held a speech at Charles University about multiculturalism in Europe and attended a memorial ceremony at the site of Theresienstadt concentration camp, together with Zeman. On the final day of his stay, Gauck visited the headquarters of Škoda Auto in Mladá Boleslav.
13 May	Netherlands	Uddel	Gauck paid a visit to the I. German/Dutch Corps and observed a NATO Response Force exercise.
4 June	Poland	Warsaw	First in a series of meetings of the Presidents of Germany (Gauck), Poland (Komorowski), the Czech Republic (Zeman), Slovakia (Gašparovič) and Hungary (Áder) to commemorate key events of the Revolutions of 1989: On the 25th anniversary of the 1989 Polish legislative election (which had paved the way to the fall of communism), they convened in Warsaw.

External links

• Official website about the appointments and journeys of the Federal President of Germany