The numerous and varied activities of Prince Albert culminated in the Great Exhibition of 1851 which was designed to be a peaceful competition of all nations. In the collective memory of mankind Queen Victoria is present as a symbol of the British Empire and as the „grandmother of Europe“. During the 63 years of her reign, the era known as the Victorian age, Great Britain experienced an unprecedented economic boom. The British colonial realm became the largest empire in human history. Six of Victoria’s and Albert’s nine children married German partners