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June 19, 1976 Silvia Sommerlath, 33, married the King of Sweden, Carl Gustaf, 30.
But while the new queen left Germany for a life filled with luxury, style and power, her relatives in East Germany had a worse time.
In the new book by SVT correspondent Ingrid Thörnqvist “Carl-Gustaf Svingel and Silvia’s Family in Cold War Berlin”, published by Ekerlid’s publishing house these days, Queen Silvia now recounts her family’s struggle in East Berlin during the Cold War. Uncle Ernst Sommerlath was a priest, and the priests were closely watched.
– It was very difficult to get permission to visit my uncle Ernst and his family. He was allowed to keep his villa, but there was always a spy living in the house. They controlled every conversation, their whole life, everything they did, says Queen Silvia in the book.
The opera singer freed the prisoners
Ingrid Thörnqvist’s book is about the Swedish opera singer Carl-Gustaf Svingel, who, living in Berlin, became a bridge between East and West when the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. Among other things, he helped liberate prisoners of the GDR and take them to West Berlin.
Svingel was friends with Ernst Sommerlath, but over the years, Carl-Gustaf Svingel and Queen Silvia would have more in common than Uncle Ernst.
Silvia’s niece, Cornelia Grude, was 21 when her son Alexander was born with permanent brain damage. In the GDR, there were no aids or wheelchairs for the disabled Alexander, and she is not allowed to go to preschool.
Cornelia Grude’s father is the cousin of Queen Silvia, and within the family, how bad it is for Alejandro is spread. Silvia, the newlywed, listens from Stockholm and wonders how she can help.
“He sent a special chair”
Cornelia Grude and Alexander are going to live in Carl-Gustaf Svingel’s Haus Victoria in West Berlin during the weeks when the son receives physical therapy, and one of Queen Silvia’s employees, who is a physical therapist, goes to Germany to see what does the child need for AIDS.
– The amount of support we received was incredible. The queen sent a special chair that Alexander could use and practice his balance. We have never seen anything like it. It meant a lot. In a package from Sweden came a special stroller, suitable for older children, says Grude in the book.
For Queen Silvia, it was obvious to help where she could, although the most practical responsibility lay with her father.
– My father actively supported Cornelia. I was a bit in the background, but I helped her financially, says Silvia in the book.
In the end, the family manages to legally move to West Berlin, and Silvia contributes money so they can buy a car. Today, Alexander lives in a house without his mother and can drive his permobile without help.
– Thanks to Carl-Gustaf Svingel and Silvia, she has been able to develop mentally, says Cornelia Grude.
Excerpt from “Carl-Gustaf Svingel and Silvia’s family in Cold War Berlin”
By Ingrid Thörnqvist.
Queen Silvia reflects on the photos of a happy Alexander sent by Cornelia.
– Yes, when Alexander was in the hospital, he lived with my parents. My father actively supported Cornelia. I was a bit in the background, but I helped her financially.
Did the queen personally send walking chairs and educational toys?
– Yes, I did it through my father. You do what you can. I had to carry it! He received no aid in the GDR. The boy was spastic, with his legs together.
Kirstine spontaneously recounts the visits they made to orphanages in the Baltic and Russia.
– Some of the children were in hiding. The ones we met were dressed with big bows in their hair.
– Cornelia’s son has learned to write and read, I add.
– It’s fantastic, exclaims the queen.
I tell you that Cornelia said the queen tried
persuade her to leave the RDA to better care for her child
in the West.
Queen Silvia does not want to confirm that. She skillfully completes the topic:
– It’s an illusion that everyone has, I think.
But how did it go when Cornelia left East Germany in 1983?
– I don’t remember that, says the floating queen.
I keep trying to find the connection between her and Carl-Gustaf Svingel.
Was it through Cornelia’s case that you got in touch?
The queen doesn’t want to answer that either.
Principal Kirstine comes to the rescue.
– He was here in Sweden often and came here before Christmas, to church. He could have made his own contacts through the congregation.
Continuous. He wants to know what relationship they had.
Did you help with Cornelia’s situation?
– Yes, we help with the practicalities. It is true that Cornelia was in Heidelberg and lived with my parents. I don’t know how it got out of the GDR, probably through the Swedish congregation in Berlin. I was away
