The Queen was welcomed to Germany with pomp and ceremony - and the roar of Luftwaffe fighter jets overhead.
As the Queen and Duke and Edinburgh were greeted by Britain's Ambassador to Germany Sir Simon McDonald, two Eurofighter Typhoon jets flew above them.
The aircraft had escorted the Queen's chartered plane - an Embraer legacy 650 - soon after it entered German airspace, a mark of respect afforded to visiting dignitaries.
The private jet used by the Queen boasts "incredible comfort and the largest cabin in its class" according to a website for Brazilian aerospace firm Embraer, which also states the plane has "three distinct cabin zones for eating, sleeping and working".
Germany is hosting a four-day state visit by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh which will see the royal couple pay their respects to holocaust survivors, hold a private meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel and celebrate historic sites in Frankfurt.
The royal couple will be joined by Prime Minister David Cameron at a state banquet held in their honour tomorrow night.
Leaden skies that had brought rain all day brightened briefly just before the Queen's plane touched down and taxied to a strip of red carpet and a waiting guard of honour.
On the tarmac, Sir Simon introduced the monarch who, wore a Peter Enrione royal blue coat and a pale blue hat by Angela Kelly, to senior members of his staff.
The Ambassador has said Britain's head of state is held in high regard by Germans and some have taken to referring to her not by the German word for a female sovereign but using the English - Die Queen.
As the Queen left Berlin's Tegel military airport, 15 motorcycle outriders led the way forming an arrowhead followed by a British state limousine carrying the royal couple.