G7 Summit at Schloss Elmau
The heads of state and government of the G7 countries are meeting in the Alps from 26 to 28 June 2022. Here are all the important facts about the summit venue.
The climax of the German G7 Presidency in 2022 will be the summit of the heads of state and government of the G7 countries from 26 to 28 June. It is the seventh time that Germany has hosted a summit of this kind – and the second time it has invited participants to Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps. The last G7 Summit under German Presidency was also held there in June 2015. Situated some 100 kilometres from Munich, the luxury hotel will not only offer a magnificent setting for Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz to receive US President Joe Biden and the other heads of state and government; its location also enables the venue to meet all security requirements.
Building with a chequered history
The venue for the G7 Summit is located in the rural district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen not far from the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain. A theologian and philosopher by the name of Johannes Müller had a mansion built there in 1916. It was intended to be a meeting centre and place of encounter and eventually attracted many prominent politicians and creative artists of the Weimar Republic, which was established after the First World War. Following the National Socialists’ seizure of power in 1933, Müller revered Nazi ideology for a time and in 1942 leased the building to the German Wehrmacht. At the end of the war the US Army seized the building and used it as a military hospital for a while.
Müller’s children acquired the lease for the building in 1951 and set up a hotel. Very soon it was primarily known for its cultural events, especially for classical music concerts. In 2005, however, a fire destroyed a large part of the building. Dietmar Mueller-Elmau, the grandson of the original builder, then had it rebuilt.
First G7 Summit in 2015
On 7 and 8 June 2015 Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor at the time, received Barack Obama, the then US President, and the other leaders. Pictures of the summit of G7 countries (Germany, the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Japan) in the Alps went round the world. Among others, the main subjects of the gathering were the global effort for increased climate action and the Ukraine crisis following the Russian annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula. As a result of the latter, Russia had already been excluded from the circle of G7 countries in 2014, after it was admitted in 1998 with the formation of the Group of Eight.
Summit meeting in historically difficult times
The second summit in the Bavarian Alps will be strongly influenced by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The seven leading democratic industrialised nations have condemned the invasion in the strongest possible terms and are supporting Ukraine. In addition, topics on the G7 agenda in 2022 include not only climate action, but also efforts to achieve a stable world economy, global food security and a commitment to social justice and equality. “We will make the most of our G7 Presidency to ensure this group of states takes on a pioneering role – in the pursuit of climate neutrality and an equitable world,” says Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Significant advances are to be made here at Schloss Elmau at the end of June when Scholz receives President Joe Biden of the USA, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the UK, Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan. Also expected are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, President of the European Council. Scholz has also invited Indonesia, India, Senegal and South Africa to the summit.
You will find all important information and data on current developments associated with the German G7 Presidency here.
