The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-05-14 00:00:00

THE AUSTRIAN ROYAL MARRIAGE.

The marriage of her Royal Highness the Princess
Stefanie Clotilda Louisa Hermine Marie Charlotte,
Duchess of Sax,ny, and second daughter of their
Majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians, to his
Imperial and Royal Highness the Archduke Rudolph
Francis Charles Joseph, Crown Prince of Austria,
Hungary, Bohemia, and other kingdoms, has been
preceded by a series of fetes in the Austrian capital.

The Court ball at Vienna on Saturday night is
described as having been the greatest and most suc-
cessful festival of the kind ever held in the Austrian
capital. Among the principal features were the ex-
traordinary variety and gorgeous colours of the
national costumes, and the exquisite toilettes of the
Imperial and Royal Princesses, and others of the
ladies present.

A deputation representing all the provinces of the
empire waited on the Crown Prince and the Princess
Stephanie on Sunday morning and presented the con-
gratulations of the nation. But the great event of
Sunday was a grand popular festival in the Prater, the
great park of Vienna, where more• than half a million
people met to celebrate the approaching nuptials. In
the afternoon the Court drove to witness the rejoicings,
the party filling no fewer than twenty-ore carriages.
The Mayor and the assembled Festival Committee
awaited the arrival of the Imperial procession at the
fountain at the Prater Stern, where the Mayor handed
to the Emperor and the members of the Imperial house
the programme of the " Volksfest," printed on vellum.
The State carriages proceeded at walking pace through
the principal avenue. During the course, which occupied
about an hour and a half, the members of the com-
mittee accompanied the royal carriage on each side on
foot, fifty young citizens going before the Court
carriages to keep the way clear, while a hundred
more escorted them on both sides, and fifty followed
in the rear to keep off the pressure of the crowd.
The Emperor had expressed a wish that the services of
the police might be dispensed with, and his desire
was enthusiastically welcomed and completely carried
out by the citizens of Vienna. With the object of
keeping the palice away from the " Volksfest," 700
young men from the best families enrolled themselves
for the preservation of order.
The festival was officially opened at two o'clock.
Numerous military bands beguiled the time with
orchestral, military, and dance music. Fencing and
gymnastics were in full swing in one part of the
Prater' while on another all imaginable kinds of
games for prizes attracted many competitors. At ten
o'clock the festival officially closed, the kands all
marchinc, back to the city, accompanied by a vast
crowd. marching
were tens of thousands of people
left in the Prater, where they remained to keep up the
festival till morning at the numerous balls that had
been arranged.

In noticing the fête in the Prater, the Correspond-
ent of the Daily Telegraph writes :—" For many hours
before to-day's festivities commenced a dense crowd
had been pouring from all sides into the beautiful park,
dispersing themselves over its wide meadows and under
the long avenues of stately trees. The faces of the
people showed that they meant to be happy, and,
if ocular evidence may be trusted, happy they were.
In the centre of the Praterstern, which forms the
entrance to the people's park, and from which
streets radiate in all directions, a fountain specially
erected for the occasion threw a vast v'olulee of water
high into the air. The neighbouring North-Western
railway station was tastefully adorned with wreaths,
while from its four lofty towers as many flags flut-
tered in the wind, forming a constantly changing
combination of colours. The railway embankment
and bridges were draped with coloured cloths and
festooned with garlands of evergreen. Even the
telegraph posts had abandoned their everyday
nakedness and had transformed themselves into
Corinthian columns, surmounted by eagles with out-
stretched wings. At about two o'clock loud strains of
music announced the approach of the six military
bands, which marched gaily to the positions appointed
for them. This gave the signal for the business of
the day to commence. For those ambitious of gym-
nastic fame, poles were provided which they might
attempt to climb, with prizes for all who successfully
reached the top ; elsewhere there were assault at
arms, with cut and thrust, sword and bayonet. Nor
were the encounters of the afternoon confined
to the prosaic weapons of a gunpowder age.
The spectators also witnessed the Horatii and Curiatii
once more fighting their time-honoured battle.
Tumblers and acrobats of all kinds shared with a
skilful tight-rope dancer the shuddering applause of a
vast public. The more speculatively inclined could
buy their fortune at a lottery where the prizes were
numerous. Large crowds thronged the pavilions
which were set aside for dancing, and waltzed round
with a zeal that did credit alike to lung and
limb. The musical societies, with which Vienna
and its suburbs abound, having placed their ser-
vices at the disposal of the Fête Committee, a concert
on a gigantic scale was organised. The vocal music,
which included the Austrian and Belgian national
anthems, and a long list of popular Volkslieder,
was performed by tkirteen hundred singers. In
another Dart of the Prater the admirable men's sing-
ing club;. of Vienna gave a concert of their own,
the principal feature of which was a chorus
with orchestral accompaniment, written for the
occasion by Johann • Strauss. Public liberality in
the matter of amirsements was largely supple-
mented by private enterprise. For a small sum the
hypochondriac might try his weight, the lusty the
strength of his arm, or the inquisitive the force of a
galvanic shock. The. places most favoured by a
thirsty crowd on a hot dusty afternoon were the open-
air Bier Halle, where the light frothy product of the
neighbouring breweries flowed in copious streams.
Yet, so far as I saw, there was not a single case of
drunkenness or disorder. Balloons bf various colours
were sent up from time to time, and followed
by straining eyes until they had passed out of
sight. Viewed from the top of the Rotunda, the lofty
and imposing remnant of the Great Exhibition, the
crowd under the chestnut trees, in their spring attire,
with a sky overhead and a sun as bright and clear as
if seen from an Alpine summit, formed a picture
which, in colour and light, would have delighted the
heart of any painter to survey. I doubt wheCher such
a sight can be witnessed elsewhere than in Vienna."

The Correspondent of The Times writing from
Vienna on Monday, says :

This has been a great day for Vienna. There was the
official entry and reception of the youthful bride in the
morning, and the illumination of the town in the evening.
For days past Vienna had been adorning itself for the occa-
sion, and certainly the effort has not been in vain, for the
verdict of the public is that the dedorations are 'even more
gorgeous and effective than they were on the oecasion of the
silver wedding of the Emperor. This has been produced by a
lavish use of flags and streamers, and so many of them are of
the Belgian e, lours—red, yellow, and blue—that the King
of the Belgians remarked to the deputation of the town that
he might almost fancy himself in Brussels. In the narrower
streets of the inner town the houses are•so hidden by the
mass of colouring that one might easily think oneself
walking under an awning. In the bright sunshine all looks
so gay and festive that it reminds one of those days of great
popular demonstration in the Italian towns during ISSO and
'ISIO Although the line from the Theresianum,
where the Princess with her Royal mother had gone
in the morning, and from whence the cortige was to
start, is rather over a mile in length, and leads for
the most part over the Ring, which is broader than
any of the new Paris Boulevards, there was no
chance of its affording room for the tens,-nay, hundreds of
thousands who were certain to be present: In consequenle,
, all along the line infantry soldiers were posted shoulder to
shoulder, interspersed with policemen, while behind at all
' the cross streets pickets of cavalry were posted to break the
force of the crowd, Yet, in spite of this, the infantry,
cavalry, and police together had no easy task to keep back
the crowd standing on both sides of the line of
route. Nor were they uniformly successful, for just
about the time when the cortege was due the crowd
seemed to be getting the better of all these precautions
and to be breaking through into the road which was
to be kept open for the procession. This was, however,
due more to the pressure from behind than to any intentional
breaking of the line. Once thrown out, as it were, no rash
was made, but the people walked about as leisurely as if they
were out promenading as usual. The difficulty was only how
to get them back. At noon all the cross streets had been
closed and no passages had been left open for stragglers. The
necessity of such outlets in the case of a very large crowd had
tbreoeonp overs
succeededl o o k e d , andin olt n
cwea
ms
oo
in.
el only bl
clearing
r rrega t
the exe
rr
ot iaodn. s thatsll
,t ha et
last
n n a m
thiis was
most
p
omrpairwtheodr,any r, whichdmgraandnueallythe was
ddsuete far
d r
more to the good nature of the people themselves than of
those charged with the maintainance of order, whose rough-
ness and impatience few crowds would have borne so meekly.
It was no doubt owing to this general good temper of a
Viennese crowd that no accidents occurred.
At noon the eartige was ordered to assemble in the
Theresianum. . . . Half an hour later the Princess and her
Royal mother arrived from Schfinbrunn, and were received
by the persons who were to take part in the procession—a
full Oeurt establishment—and conducted to their apart-
ments, where they made their toilette for the entry into the
city. While this was -being done, the cortege was formed.
Well, if the town of Vienna had done its beet to do honour
to the bride of the Heir-Apparent, the Court had shown that
It belonged to one of the oldest Sovereign Houses in
Europe, rich in historical traditions and surrounded
by a rich, powerful, and devoted aristocracy, which

proud itself, takes a pride in keeping up and illus-
trating the splendour of the Crown. From the
liveries of the host of servants and the uniforms of the
Guards'to the horses, harness, and state carriages, all had
their past, and moved in all the glories of secular traditions.
The Chamberlain, on horseback, in the Imperial colours—
black and gold—who led the corteje, was but the representa-
tive of him who from the times of the Austrian Charles and
the Phillips of Spain have always been leading such a pro-
cession, whether bridal or funeral, and sZi were those who
followed him, passing in order according to their service and
rank, as has been the custom at the Court of the Hapsburgs
for centuries past. .. . As of old, the Chamberlains
and Privy Councillors had the choice of appearing
either on horseback or in State coaches. Sixty-
eight of the former and fifteen of the latter had chosen
the former, and they rode in pairs, forming a long array.
Few of these, however, were in their Court dresses, most of
them being soldiers, and wearing their uniforms, while two
of the Hungarians were in their national costume on richly-
caparisoned horses. Twenty-one Chamberlaisis and Privy
Councillors followed in their State coaches, drawn by two
horses. I am sure that the carriages and liveries were
quite equal in richness to any that may he seen on
great State occasions in London. The liveried servants,
four or six in number—in tha case of Hungarians
dressed as Hussars—were partly standing up behind
or walking at the side of the various. coaches. The
occupants of these coaches were almost, without ex-
ception, princess or counts and representatives of old
historical houses. Among them was Count Andrassy, who
in several places was recognized by the crowd, and loudly
cheered. Six trumpeters in red tunics and on horseback
then followed, preceding the carriages containing the
special court of the Princess. These were three in number,
and were drawn by six black horses of the purest Spanish
breed. The harness was black and gold., with the liveries of
the coachmen and servants to match. The first carriage con-
tained the four Chamberlains on duty; the second, the chiefs
of the respective households of the Queen of the Belgians and
the Princess; while in the third rode the Imperial Master of
the Horse. These carriages were followed by a squadron of
Horse Guards on white steedsrichly caparisoned and a detach-
ment of Foot Guards. Then came the State carriage containing
the Princess and her Royal mother. . . . It was drawn by milk-
white steeds of the purest Spanish breed, which are the
lineal descendants of those who drew the old carriages, both
the black and white breeds being scrupulously kept pure in
the Imperial stud, and are, with the exception, perhaps, of
the cream-coloured Hanoverians, the .only pure representa-
tives of the breed in existence. The harness, all of gold, was
made after the old pattern in the Imperial collection, and:
each horse had the traditional bunch of white ostrich feathers
waving from its head. The first pair only were ridden by
postillions, in gold-embroidered tunics. At each side
walked two servants in similar liveries, six Guards, on
foot, and as many on horseback. On the left side of the
coach—the side on which the Princess sat—rode the Mili-
tary Commander of Vienna. Six pages on horseback fol-
lowed the carriage, and after these in turn rode a detach-
ment of the Guard of Archers in red, and one of the Hun-
garian Pa-Ay-guard in the red, richly-embroidered Hungarian
costume, with the traditional leopard-skin as cloaks, the
first on bay, the latter on white horses. Then came three
more carriages and six, the first containing the respective
Mistresses of the Robes of the Queen and Princess. A corn-

pany of infantry and a troop of cavalry closed the procession.
As was the case yesterday during the drive to the Prater
fete, so to-day all along the road there was one long ovation.
There was one mark of feeling, however, which probably
the Princess could scarcely remark, and which yet, perhaps,
had a deeper meaning than any other, and this was that
thousands of men and women wore bunches of the lily of the
valley, the favourite flower of the Princess. At the open
space before the Elizabeth-bridge, which had been prepared
far the reception, and where the Ministers and other high
dignitaries, deputations, and most distinguished guests
were assembled, the carriage stopped, and a short address
of welcome and congratulation was read by the Burgo-
master. The Queen first replied, saying how deeply both
she and her daughter had been moved by their reception.
The Princess added that she did not know how to thank
them, and could never hope to repay so much affection. The
cortege then passed on to the Burg, where their Majesties,
the members of the Imperial family, the princely guests,
and all the Court had assembled to greet the bride. All the
time the precession was passing through the city the church
bells were pealing and salutes of artillery were fired.