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Dalai Lama kicks off four days visit to Germany

Deutsche Welle

The Dalai Lama looks at a tattoo of his own image put on a photographers arm after a joint press conference with Hessen State Chief Minister Mr Roland Koch as the Tibetan leader kicks off his visit to Germany in Frankfurt on 29 July 2009. It is the Tibetan leader’s 35th visit to the country.Agentur Focus Hamburg/Manuel Bauer/Germany

The Dalai Lama has begun four days of lectures and discussion on Buddhism in Frankfurt. The 74-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate is visiting Germany for the 35th time.

The Dalai Lama is scheduled to spend the next four days in Frankfurt. The spiritual lectures he is set to give in the city’s Commerzbank stadium are expected to be attended by 30,000 visitors.

Frankfurt’s mayor, Petra Roth, welcomed the Dalai Lama, describing him as a man who had tirelessly fought for a resolution to the conflict over Tibet in China. He “symbolises the fight for peace,” she said.

Also on the programme for Thursday is a meeting with German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul of the Social Democrats.

This is the second visit to Germany for the Dalai Lama just this year. After being awarded honorary citizenship in Warsaw, Poland, the Dalai Lama arrived in Germany on Wednesday where he met with Roland Koch, the premier of the state of Hesse and a long-time friend and supporter.

Frankfurt Mayor Petra Roth presented the Dalai Lama with a Ginko tree during their meeting, at a hotel in Neu-Isenburg near Frankfurt.

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Published in Deutsche Welle