German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute on Friday to Guernica, the Basque town that was bombed and destroyed by Nazi forces in 1937. It is the first time a German head of state has visited the city, which has become a global symbol of the horrors of war thanks largely to Picasso’s iconic painting of the same name.

In the presence of Spain’s King Felipe VI, Steinmeier attended a ceremony at the Zallo cemetery in memory of the hundreds of civilians killed in the April 1937 bombing, carried out in support of General Franco’s forces during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939).

The two leaders were also scheduled to visit the Museum of Peace, which recounts the tragedy that remains deeply rooted in the Basque collective memory.

On Wednesday, during the first day of his official visit to Spain, Steinmeier had already urged the public not to forget “this crime committed by Germans,” underscoring the “heavy responsibility” borne by his country.

“Guernica is a reminder — a reminder that we must fight for peace, freedom, and the protection of human rights,”
— Frank-Walter Steinmeier

This historic visit follows earlier steps toward reconciliation. In 1997, on the 60th anniversary of the bombing, then German President Roman Herzog became the first German leader to formally acknowledge “the guilty involvement of the German pilots” and issued an apology to the Spanish people in a speech read in Guernica by the German ambassador.

On the first day of his trip this week, Steinmeier also visited Madrid’s Reina Sofía Museum, where Picasso’s monumental Guernica is exhibited. Ten days earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky viewed the painting alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, drawing parallels between the suffering of Guernica’s residents and that of Ukrainians following Russia’s invasion.

In April 1937, around 50 aircraft bombed Guernica in successive waves, dropping some 30 tons of explosives, including incendiary bombs used for the first time. After the initial attacks by Junkers Ju-52 bombers, Messerschmitt fighters strafed civilians attempting to flee. Historians consider Guernica the first city in the world to be destroyed by aerial bombardment — a testing ground for the German Condor Legion, then deployed in Spain to support Franco’s uprising.

Steinmeier’s visit comes just days after the 50th anniversary of Franco’s death (20 November 1975). The dictator’s legacy, and the wounds left by his decades-long regime (1939–1975), continue to divide and haunt Spanish society.