The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-03-24 00:00:00

THE SERVICE AT THE DOM.

As eleven o'clock approached public expectation
became intense, and the people pressed forward more
vigorously to secure places. The vast crowd assembled
in front of and around the Dom presented a most
striking spectacle. The whole place was a dense
mass of human beings pressed together so closely
that the patience and endurance of every individual
composing it must have been subjected to the
severest strain. The order and decorum that pre-
vailed under such trying circumstances was most
remarkable; but the solemnity of the occasion had
so deeply impressed itself on the minds of
the people of Berlin that every one seemed
desirous that so far as he was personally con-
cerned nothing should occur to mar the impressive
ceremonies in honour of the memory of the great and
beloved Emperor. At eleven the bell of the Dom
gave the signal that the funeral obsequies of the
Emperor William had commenced, and immediately
the bells of all the churches in the city began to toll.
The Dom was by this time nearly full, and soon the
Imperial and Royal mourners and the other distin-
guished personages who had been invited to the
funeral arrived. The Chief Court Chamberlain and
the Ministers had previously taken up the places
assigned to them in the programme. General Pape
stood at the head of the coffin, holding the Imperial
Standard, and beside him were .Count von Lehndorff
and Prince Radzivil, aides-de-camp of the late
Emperor, with their swords drawn. The adjutants,
generals, and other officers were stationed at the foot
of the coffin.

The Crown Prince stood in the middle of the nave
behind the Imperial Standard, having at his side the
Kings of Saxony, Belgium, and Roumania. There
were also present in the immediate vicinity of his Im-
perial Highness the Grand Duke of Baden, the Princes
Henry and Albrecht and other Hohenzollern Princes,
the Czarewitch, the Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria,
the Grand Dukes Michael and Nicholas, the Prince of
Wales, the Crown Princes of Italy, Denmark,
and Greece, all in the uniform of their
respective countries; also the Princes of Bavaria, the
Grand Duke of Hesse, and other Princes. The repre-
sentatives of foreign Powers, amongst them General
Billot, sent ty the French President, and his suite,
occupied the rows in the nave next to the Princely
mourn,:•rs above-named. The seats in the diplomatic
pew were also all occupied. Two great figures were
conspicuous by their absence-_--Bismarck and Moltke
—the most trusted and illustrious, of the Emperor
William's advisers.

The Dom presented at this moment an extraordi-
nary display of martial splendour, surpassing, perhaps,
any previous spectacle of a similar kind that has been
seen in Europe in modern times. The high officers,
civil and military, arrayed in brilliant uniforms, sur-
rounded the coffin; the Imperial and Royal Princes
in the nave, notwithstanding the mourning emblems
which they wore, presented an equally dazzling ap-
pearance; and the general effect was enhanced by the
attendant guard of honour, with their drawn swords.
The Royal ladies in the left gallery and the clergy
before the altar offered the only contrast to the blaze
of bright and varied colour which glowed within the
walls of the national Cathedral.

After a soft prelude on the organ, the Court Chap-
lain, Pastor Koegel, read passages from the Psalm xe.,
and the 25th and 26th verses of St. John xi., the choir
of the Cathedral subsequently singing "I know that
my Redeemer liveth." The chaplain next read
passages from Psalm xc., and from Timothy iv., 7th
and Bth verses, concluding with the words, "From
henceforward blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord." To which the choir responded, "Even so
saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours."
Then a special prayer referring to the long life and
peaceful end of the Emperor William, and also to
the illness of the Kaiser, was read by Dr. Koegel,
and the congregation sang the hymn "Was Gott
thut, Das ist wohl." Dr. Koegel then delivered a
brief memorial address, in which he said that the
Emperor's long life had been brightened with peace
and victory, because he had proved himself only an
instrument in God's hands. His last words had been
"Memo augen haben meinen, Heiland gesehen." Ho
would be laid at Charlottenburg, a place he had often
visited with filial piety, beside that mother who had
left him in his boyhood with blessings Then, with
outstretched hand and in deep impressive tones, Dr.
Koegel said: "Germany swears over his coffin to be
faithful to him who lies here "—a thrill of emotion
passing through the whole assembly as they silently
ratified the vow. As the benediction was being pro-
nounced volleys were fired by the infantry outside.
The ceremony closed with the singing of "Holy, holy,
holy, is the Lord."