When the German ambassador fact-checked an edu exhibition ad in an Indian newspaper

The boarding school in the ad was not what it seemed.

In what was a blunder of utter proportions, Philipp Ackermann, the German ambassador to India and Bhutan, fact-checked a boarding school image inside a print ad published by an Indian newspaper on September 30, 2023.

“But this building is no boarding school! It is the seat of the German President in Berlin. Our Rashtrapati Bhavan as it were...” posted the ambassador on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Dear Indian parents - I found this in today’s newspaper. But this building is no boarding school! It is the seat of the German President in Berlin. Our Rashtrapati Bhavan as it were. There are good boarding schools also in Germany - but here, no child will be admitted 😎. pic.twitter.com/ftbEeJk724

— Dr Philipp Ackermann (@AmbAckermann) September 30, 2023

Bellevue Palace, situated on the banks of river Spree, has been the seat of the German President for nearly three decades.

The print ad was about the 'Premier Schools Exhibition', a gathering of India’s leading boarding schools held on October 1 and 2, 2023, at Eros Hotel in New Delhi.