Former US President Barack Obama will visit Germany in May to address the Protestant Church Assembly, or Kirchentag, the organizers confirmed on Tuesday. Obama will join Chancellor Angela Merkel and other dignitaries at the four-day festival.

He is believed to be making a speech at the closing event in Berlin to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. It would be his first public talk since his second term came to an end in January.

Click here for our dedicated page on 500 years of the Reformation

The former president can likely look forward to a warm welcome in Germany, where he still enjoys a favorable reputation despite revelations that the NSA once tapped Chancellor Merkel's cell phone under his watch.

Obama visited Germany six times as president, but he captured the hearts and minds of Germans before he was even elected. In 2008, hundreds of thousands gathered to hear him speak at the Victory Column, or Siegessäule, in Berlin.

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es/rt (AFP, dpa)