Fairytale Venue With Dark Past For G7 Summit In Germany

Elmau Castle, Germany, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jun, 2022 ) :G7 leaders convened Sunday in a quintessentially German venue handpicked by former chancellor Angela Merkel and recycled by her successor Olaf Scholz -- a luxury hotel with a fairy-tale setting and a tumultuous past.

Elmau Castle, nestled in the Bavarian Alps, is a five-star resort that has been transformed into a fortress for the three-day meeting of the club of rich nations.

The opening day served up radiant sunshine bathing the region's spectacular verdant peaks in golden light. US President Joe Biden pronounced the setting "just beautiful".

But storm clouds were gathering on the horizon -- a fitting backdrop for the meeting with the Ukraine war, global food shortages and the health of the world's democracies and the planet on the agenda.

"This club for conversation began as the G6 with six countries (in the 1970s) to discuss how to deal with the oil crisis at that time," Scholz said on the eve of the event.

"Now it's important that we talk about today's situation and ensure that we stop man-made climate change." At the last summit here in 2015, US president Barack Obama agreed to a village walkabout with Merkel among the feather-capped farmers and dirndl-clad women who make Bavaria famous, complete with a stop for a soft pretzel and a tall glass of beer.

The current chancellor, nicknamed Scholzomat for his often robotic style, was sticking to a tighter schedule given the crisis-packed programme.

- Arson, derailment - G7 presidents typically choose picture-postcard spots when planning their annual summit, ideally in a remote location that is easier for police to seal off than an urban centre.

Elmau Castle is no exception.

The sumptuous accommodation comes complete with 115 rooms and suites, swimming pools and spas.

To maintain security, high-level guests were being whisked by helicopter to the castle, while a ring of steel kept around 800 anti-G7 protesters at bay in the ski resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 15 kilometres (nine miles) down the road.

Some 18,000 police officers have been mobilised from across Germany, some housed for days in mountain huts near the venue. Local media put the price tag of the gathering at some 177 million Euros ($187 million).

Scholz is at pains to avoid the violent demonstrations that marred the Group of 20 summit in 2017 in Hamburg which nearly cost him his job at the time as the city's mayor.

Despite the major security presence, red-faced Bavarian authorities this week admitted that eight buses used by Federal police for the summit had been destroyed in an arson attack.

State Interior Minister Joachim Hermann blamed "left-wing extremists" seeking to disrupt the event.

A train accident earlier this month on the route to Garmisch that cost five lives also set local officials on edge. Bavarian police have opened a probe on suspicion of criminally negligent homicide against three railway employees over the derailment.

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