Page 63 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Germany

THE HIST OR Y OF GERM AN Y  61

Ludwig II of Bavaria
The federal states, which
made up the Reich, enjoyed
complete autonomy. Their
rulers, however, for instance
King Ludwig II of Bavaria,
patron of Richard Wagner and
builder of “fantastic” castles
and palaces, had little real
political influence.

Officer’s helmet
The characteristic spiked
helmet worn by German
soldiers was known as
a Pickelhaube.

The Kaiser’s
wife, Augusta
Victoria

Mourning dress was
worn by the women and
black ribbons by the men
as a mark of respect for
the two previous Kaisers
Wilhelm, the heir who had died in 1888 –
to the throne the father and grandfather
of Wilhelm II.

The Diplomatic
Corps

Otto von Bismarck Kaiser Wilhelm II

Inauguration of the Reichstag
This vast canvas by Anton von Werner (1893)
shows the opening ceremony for the
Reichstag after the coronation of Kaiser Otto von Bismarck
Wilhelm II on 25 June 1888 in the Kaiser’s Originating from a
Palace in Berlin. The painter depicts the Pomeranian family of
moment when the Kaiser delivers his speech. Junkers, the Prussian
Premier and Chancellor
of the Reich was one of
the most prominent
political figures of his time.

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