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Bake Off host Matt Lucas gets a German passport - 80 years after his family fled Berlin

The comedian said he had sung the Flintstones theme to embassy staff in their own language

November 3, 2021 12:59
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NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 24: Comedian and host Matthew Lucas attends the 2014 International Academy Of Television Arts & Sciences Emmy Awards at New York Hilton on November 24, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
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Over 80 years since his grandmother fled Berlin, Matt Lucas has become a German citizen.

The Jewish television star said he had officially become Anglo-German after singing the Flintstones theme to embassy staff in their own language.

“Having been offered citizenship, I have just been to the German Embassy in London to collect my Certificate of Naturalisation,” Mr Lucas said on Twitter.

Staff gave the Great British Bake Off presenter gummy bears, or “gummibärchen,” and a “lovely badge” depicting the German and British flags.

After Bundesliga club Union Berlin replied to Mr Lucas with “willkommen,” the Arsenal fan declared they were his “new German team”.

He said the process had taken six months in total and he could now claim a German passport.

Earlier this year, the German parliament voted to lift restrictions that prevented some descendants of German Jews from claiming citizenship.

Those whose ancestors were persecuted by the Nazis, including Roma and Jews, now have an easier path to becoming German.

Lawyer Felix Couchman, who lobbied for the change, told Deutsche Welle at the time the new law was “a milestone”.

He said receiving citizenship was significant as it symbolised “a recognition that a wrong was done to them and their family members and forebears and that is now finally being acknowledged and being corrected.”

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