In August 1845 Victoria and Albert made their first visit together to Coburg, the birthplace of both Albert and the Duchess of Kent, Victoria’s mother. Keen for a visual record of their travels, the royal couple commissioned and acquired works by several German artists. Victoria’s lady-in-waiting, Lady Canning, was also ordered to (in her words) ‘draw all day long’ during the trip – fourteen of her views were mounted in the watercolour albums.

Victoria and Albert made two further visits to Germany together to visit their eldest daughter Vicky, who in 1858 married Prince Frederick William of Prussia. During that same summer the Queen and Prince stayed with the young couple at Potsdam and went sightseeing in Berlin and the surrounding area. Two years later, Victoria and Albert met their first grandchild – the future Kaiser Wilhelm II – at Coburg and were ‘so happy to see him at last’.