Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-02
BERLIN'S SWELL STREET.
The Shops, the Fashion, and the Great
Men of Inter Den Linden.

Inter den Linden is a very disappointing
street to the typical American tourist who does
Berlin in a day. He expects to find thorough
fare of imperial magnifcence. After driving
from the GRANDCHILDREN Thor to the palace
once or twice he leaves the German capital
with a vague impression of broad street con-
tanning two fair roadways and promenade
bordered with double rows of scrubby trees.
The palace, the university, and the museums,
aside from the buildings of the National art
gallery, are an indifferent-looking lot of block
houses. The famous shops and cafes look or
binary enough to men who know Broadway
The big hotels would make a poor showing be-
side the Fifth Avenue or the Windsor.
To Berliner all this seems different. how
ever. He knows that for many generations
Inter den Linden has been the pride of the
house Of Hohenozllern. He read, whena child
how the lindens and chestnuts there were
planted and nurtured under the care of Prus-
sian queen. He can never forget that the
Great Kurfurst and the Great Frederick hoped
to make it the finest street in Europe. With
all these "reminiscences in his mind, he never
ceases to claim for il all the grandeur imagin-
able.
The real attraction, Inter den Linden. how
ever is not the street itself. 1t is the life that
surges up and down Its pavements between
and o'clock every pleasant afternoon. The
best dressed women in Germany crowd its
broad walks. Scores of young ieutenants in
bright red-and-black uniforms saunter along
among them. Occasionally a white-haired,
white-bearded officer. with broad red stripes
down the sides of his trousers and an iron cross
on his breast, marches straight through the
crowd as If he had the walk all to himself. The
cross generally means that he has been very
brave on the field of battle. The big stripes
on his trousers indicate his high rank. The
progress Of these old officers along the walk is
the occasion of a tremendous amount of salut-
ing on the part of the young heutenants, who
are compelled temporarily to give up ogling
the pretty German girls around them.
When Moltke appears in Inter den Linden
there is always a big crowd after him. Every
one salutes him excepting an occasional
Frenchman or American. If man doesn't
salute the old general, however he had better
get right out of the way, for he will be regarded
as very doubtful character by all who saw
him keep his hat on. The appearance Of a
coach containing a Hohenzellern electrifies
Inter den Linden. 1t is the signal for gen.
eral facing out toward the curb, and lot Of
uncovering, and bowling, and scraping that the
average American rather rebels against. The
good German citizen though not SO much Of q
slave to royalty as is generally supposed, likes
TO show his love Of country by unc0vering to a
Hohenzollern every chance he gets. At the
great celebration of the birthday OF Emperor
William the First, about eighteen months ago,
the promenaders in Inter den Linden rather
broke their record for this kind of street
etiquette. Some eighty-five or ninety princes,
princesses grand dukes and duchesses had
come to Berlin to attend the emperor's big
birthday party. Most of them spent all their
spare time driving up and down Inter den
Linden. The street was packed with Berlin
ers, who wanted to see how much handsomer
the house of Hohenzollern was than any other
house. Whenever a coach with outriders be-
fore and attendants behind appeared-and the
street was full of them-there was q general
bowing and saluting and facing about that
even the car himself couldn't find fault with.
A curious feature Of the gay and elegant life
IN Inter den Linden Of an afternoon is that the
dude has no place in it at all. Berlin, with its
5000 soldiers, 10 o military town. The best
dressed man is, therefore, the officer. A full
dress uniform IL the only clothes that Berlin
woman loves. Only man inside of such q
uniform can be what Americans consider q
thoroughbred masher. These conditions make
the dude superfuous in Berlin, and virtually
exclude him from Inter den Linden.