River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-11-18
THE FETE AT COLOGNE.
Not a success as a Religious Occasion,
But an Event of Picturesque Inter

character of the festivities. For the
space ofthree or four days | did not
see Il Catholic priest in the streets of
the ancient city, and those that were
present within the cathedral on the day
of the great ceremony were certainly not
there of their own free will. Hamlet
| performance. The cathedral was de-
clared completed and religious conse-
Grafton was withheld. A picturesque
and interesting historical procession
was given in place of the pompous
| pagentry of the church, without which
such an event as the conservation of a
great metropolitan cathedral is scarce
| ~ to be thought of. do not, of course,
intend to discuss here the justice or in
justice of the May laws, on the other
hand, and the demand made on the
other that Prince Bismark should make
the pilgrimag- to Canossa. Both sides
are doubtless in the wrong, for both
have endeavored TO come to some sort
of reconciliation, SO far, unfortunately,
unsuccessful. The archbishop of the
diocese of Cologne is still an exile from
his native country, still refusing to bow
to the enactments of the state, and so
the pitiable 'kulturkampf continues,
and will continue in spite of the cere
mony on the 10Th, when the cathedral
and German unity were declared duly
completed. The ceremonies were,
therefore considered from a religious
! standpoint, a failure. The religious
element and the element of good feel
ing and confidence and trust were
wanting in everything.
One could not but pity the members
of the cathedral chapter. who were
compelled to welcome the kaiser under
such difficult conditions Three times
was their address of welcome to the
kaiser returned to them by Minister
| Puttkammer, with incisions and cor
rections, before they could think of
| learning their address for delivery.
| And yet they managed to remind the
emperor most skillfully that Germany
was by no means united and that re-
| ligiOus peace was still to be earnestly
prayed for. The emperor was met at
the door of the cathedral by the dean
and suf1ragen bishop, Baudre, attend
ed by five priests in gorgeous robes.
They led the emperor and empress to
the vestibule under the south ern
tower, and then the address was read.
In it was the following pas
sages: May the hopes and the wishes
which after nearly four centuries his
royal majesty King Frederick William)
had connected with the commence
ment and the completion of our cathe-
dral be fulfilled and realized. May the
longed-for day dawn which may give
peace to the church, which may give
back to the finished dom its pastor"
The emperor was not prepared to for
this reminder, which was spoken
doubtless in total disregard of Minister
Puttkammers editorial supervision,
and he was sclupulously reticent
about Archbishop Melchers alb
sence. In his reply, however he
took occasion to reassure the chapter
that cas- at all times, so also on this
day, SO happily for the whole nation
the protection of the undisturbed
peace ofGod throughout the empire
will be the object of my incessant care
and of my daily prayer" The words
"as ut all times" were in the printed
speech from which the kaiser read
trebly underscored.
If the religious part Of the festival
was, so to speak, failure, the histori-
cal procession, giving pictures of three
great epochs in the construction of the
cathedral. was of intense interest. The
periods chosen for representation were
the laying of the foundation-stOne III
1913, the conservation of the completed
choir in 1922, and the laying of the
foundation-stone for the completion of
the dom in 1872 In this part of the
festival Cologne deserves the very
greatest credit, for seldom has more
brilliant and instructive procession been
seen in Germany, not excepting even
the Hans Malart one in Vienna on
the occasion of the Austrian silver we'd
ding fetes The sketches for the cos
tunes and groups were furnished by
celebrated Dusseldorf artists, and in
carrying out the ideas of the artists the
citizens of Cologne spared neither ex-
pense nor trouble. The costumes were
made Of the finest material, and the
arms and accOutrements exact repro
auctions of ancient models. At 5
o'clock ON Saturday morning, when
the members and groups of the pro-
cession gathered on the large square OF
the Newmarket, the scene was one of
Undesirable picturesqueness. Troops
of all the varlous arms, Prussians,
Bavarians, Wurtembergers,a and SaxOns,
were there on foot and on horseback,
representing modern times. The
groups representing the olden time ar
rived and took positions in readiness
for the march through the
narrow streets of the city-knights in
cleaning hemlets and glittering
armor with lance and battle ax, gal
loped into the square; beautiful ladies
in flowing trains of brocade, with vel
vet bodices and variegated pulled
sleeves, galloped in on prancing steeds,
saucy pages, in beautiful costumes of
silk, ran lightly after their mistresses;
dignified city councillors of past centu-
ries, clad in velvet mantles edged with
ermine, passed on with proud gait;
richly-clad cavaliers cleared the way
for majestic rrincely figures wearing
robes ofroyal splendor, and lovely chill
| dren in velvet jackets and silk plush
breeches, with flowers i'll their long
curling hair, passed in singing. Must
clans in ancient costume, some On foot
and some on horseback, came IN, her
| aiding various picturesque groups OF
armed vassals, men-at-arms, knights,
guilds, and Cologne citizens of ancient
times. T ere were minnesingers and
falconers, princes and sovereigns,
bishops and stately warriors. in quaint
but beautiful costumes, some on rich
" caparisoncd steeds, all carrying one
back in imagination to the days when
the original worthless lived and fought
for Cologne and its ancient glory. Sell
dom has such brilliant procession
been seen in Germany, seldom so ma
ny beautiful ladies and handsome,
knightly figures. For it must be re-
membered that the procession was
composed not of the elements that
usually form the great carnival caval.
cade, but of people of the very highest
social position in the city. The ladies
were chosen, one and all, for their
beauty and their skill in Workmanship.
and they seemed to enter into the spir-
| it and enjoyment of the affair with the
| greatest zest.
Newport is now almost deserted by
all her cottage people who do not pur-.
pose to winter there. Among those OF
! this latter class are Mr.. James X. Keene