The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-02-07
! WHERE SHALL HE BE CROWNED

Tho Coronation of Kaiser WIihelm-Clnims
of the Great German CltIes-RumOrs and
PrecedeDts.
The air of Germany Is thick with rumors of
the coming coronation. Where shall it be held?
is the theme of universal discussion. Already
all who conceive they possess any sort of vested
interest in the matter have been quietly bestir-
ring themselves, and there are now six cities in
the field contending for the Inauguration of the
new Kaiserdom. Their claims, says the London
Times, may be briefly reviewed.
First in antiquity comes Worms, the seat and
residence of the earliest recorded conquerors of
Rhineland, the Burgundian dynasty ca. d. 434);
later favorite resort of Charlemagne and his
successors; free imperial city, member of the
Rhine Bund in 1855, with a population in the
time of Barbarossa of seventy thousand, now
fallen to eleven thousand. Worms has an i'm
mortal renown in Germany for its famous Diet
of 1891 when Luther tearlessly cast down the
gauntlet of the Reformation.
Next comes AiX-la Chapelle, the birthplace of
Charlemagne Before the high altar of the
majestic Dom, which he had erected, the
mighty Emperor crowned his son, and from his
death henceforward, from A. d. Sl4 to 1881, no
less than thirty-one Emperors were crowned
here. Here too, until 1893, in the sacristy
were treasured many of the imperial robes and
regalia.
Next in antiquity of its claims comes Frank
fort on the Main, where, from the glorious era
of Barbarossa, the election of the head of the
Holy Roman Empire has, with few Interrupt
tions, been held. From the time ofl Macmillan
ii Q562) both the election and coronation of the
Emperors had been held at Frankfort and
almost all existing records, ceremonials, and
illustrations of the imperial coronations centre
in Frankfort from Richard of Cornwall down
wards.
Nuremberg has been q favorite abode time
out of mind of the most famous of the German
emperors. number of Diets we're held there
Nuremberg is the chief existing representative
of the later Middle Ages and Renaissance. Re-
gensburg-or as we choose to call it, Ratisbon
is the hest tyna of the earlier. IL is the CtV
of the Imperial Diets, held here from 1858 to
1906; here, too, were Rudolph LII and Ferdi-
nand ii elected.
Here are five ancient cities, ALL unless belied,
at this moment actively preferring their historic
claims. Berlin contests them. Only Spires, the
burial place OF the ancient Emperors, is wanting
to come forward to complete the classic number
seven. Worms, wise in its generation, has
sought to propitiate the new emperor's right and
left hands, Bismarck and Moltke, by comforting
upon them honorary citizenship. 1t is under
stood, however, that the choice fuctuates be-
tween Berlin and Frankfort.
The claims of Aix-la- -Chapelle are venerable,
but Frankfort may urge that hers have more
practical force. Beyond its Dom, the former
has but little existing vestges of it's ancient
edfces; they have been replaced by modern
factories. The partisans of Frankfort contend
that there all is unchanged. 1t can show the
Palace founded by the son of Charlemagne, and
the Romer Hall, built in 1405 for the ceremo-
nies and festivities of the Emperor and Prince
! Electors
AS a central point for the meeting of the Ger
man princes, Frankfort is perhaps the most
convenient city in Prussian territory, standing
upon the Main the middle boundary line oi
| North and South Germany. If the empire is
not to sink rapidly into a nonentity, it will be
well that the German people should see the
faces of their new emperors, and no occasion
can ever offer so fitting as the Inauguration OF
their dignity. Starting at Aix-la-C Chapelle
| Cologne Mayence, Worms, Spires, Strasburg
| Ratisbon, and Nuremberg could be visited
| until the majestic procession, swelling as il
moves along should end at Frankfort. The
ancient progresses of the emperors from theil
residence to Frankfort, and thence down the
Rhine to Aix-la- Chapelle, occupied more time
and encountered greater difficulties.