Overview
- Queen Silvia, who visited Düsseldorf on Monday, received the Rheinische Post's “Düsseldorfer des Jahres” lifetime award at a gala in the Ständehaus.
- Earlier in the day, North Rhine-Westphalia Minister-President Hendrik Wüst welcomed her at the state chancellery, where she signed the official guestbook.
- She toured Düsseldorf’s Childhood-Haus at the university hospital, a center that conducts gentle forensic interviews so children do not meet suspected perpetrators or have to testify in open court.
- The honor recognized her World Childhood Foundation, founded in 1999, which reporting says has supported about 1,200 projects in 19 countries to protect children from violence and abuse.
- The visit also carried a personal note as she recalled earning her Abitur at Düsseldorf’s Luisen-Gymnasium in 1963 and told guests the city remains a very special place to her.