A SPECIAL guest gave a reading in German as a mark of reconciliation at a remembrance service in Ludlow.

Pastor Hans-Willi Buttner, a preacher at the Paul-Gerhardt-Kirche Church in Nuremburg, gave the reading at a service in St Leonard’s Churchyard.

“This is a symbol of the reconciliation between our two nations,” said The Venerable Colin Williams, Rector of Ludlow.

Pastor Buttner told the congregation that he was born just nine months after his father arrived back in Germany after spending time as a prisoner of war in Britain.

This is the tenth visit the pastor has made to this country and a partnership between the Ludlow parish and his own has existed since 1979.

Pastor Buttner told the Advertiser he was delighted to read at the ceremony.

“It was an honour,” he said.