He was a middle-aged, grey-haired man, indistinguishable from the ranks of politicians that stood in the pale November sunshine by the Cenotaph today. But as he stepped forward to lay a wreath, that simple gesture, one moment of quiet respect in a day of commemorations all over the world, overshadowed all else. That bespectacled figure was Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the president of the Federal Republic of Germany. Once, such a historic gesture of reconciliation would have been unthinkable. Even now, in an age when the presence of German…

Source: The Times November 11, 2018 12:00 UTC