The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-08-03

was completedI in 1894, the work is not
crowned and ended until 1890, so you easily
see what a wealth of history, what piano.
rama of change and growth, there was to
crowd into the procession of Sunday.
The setting in place of the last stone of
the spire occurred on May 31st, and the
lofty structure was completed at its height
of $50 feet, eighteen feet above the Cologne
towers and the loftiest cathedral spire in
the world. The ceremonies began on Sat
urday last with an open-air choral festival
on the Cathedral square. The whole Of
Swabia (and the Swabians are not thin
folk seemed to have crowded into the city.
There were the traditional broad, honest
faces, the descendants Of the wise men,
grouping round the gayly dressed stands in
their national costumes and thronglng the
streets from dawn until midnight Thou
sands Of visitors from all parts of Germany
had come to witness the proceedings and
the city huttcred with bunting and was gay
with appropriate decorations. The bells of
the town rang through the day and the
Cathedral was Illuminated at night, the
evening been given over to matchmaking
and, of course, beer-drinkng. Sunday was
begun by more bell-ringing and by service
at the Cathedral at o'clock in the morn-
ing. Later in the day there took place
a most impressive performance of Men
delssohn's "Elijah," with well-known
artists taking the chief roles and q
large aud admirably drilled chorus. But
the feature Of the day was the procession,
which depicted the life Of the city from the
fourteenth 10 the nineteenth centuries.
In watching it detile past with its gorgeous
costumes, its living effigies of makers of
the worlds history, its revival Of forgotten
customs, trades and celebrities, its echOs Of
mighty wars and great political commissions,
the phrase of the Psalmist, :" For thousand
years in thy sight are but as yesterday"
required instinctiyely to the mind, and sin.
gularlv enough one gained by contrast with
the littleness of all these past deeds and
their doors in the sight Of an eternal being
a stronger sense of their actual force and
meaning in the human world.
In this procession 1900 people partici-
pated; soldiers, heralds and townspeo-
pie in the distinctive garb of each period
ushered in the respective centuries. The
first group was interesting as carrying
model of the foundation stone and of the
cathedral itself The group representing
the Emperor Charles V and his court made
a splendid glow of color, in strong con-
trast with the Reformers, who succeeded
in plain attire-Huss, Luther, Melancthon
and the rest merchants wedding
stood for the sixteenth century, while
in the seventeenth Wallenstein' and his
troops were, of course, the central figure.
The eighteenth century gave an 0ppor-
tunlty for the representation OF the trades
guilds. while the long martial history OF the
UlutlttJLD Ill MuNH bu0 w ulkClI-
bergers have figured not little, brought
the pageant to an end, an allegorical figure
of United Germany closing the process
sion. The historical play acted on
Monday and Tuesday may have
been less interesting to strangers. The
uf the laying of the cornerstone of
the Cathedral, which. like the reproduction
OF the visit of the Emperor Charles V in
later act, was triumph of stage grouping
and scenic effect. To the townspeople all this
was spirit stirring, and the picture given of
raptured. Yet the visitors were to be par
duned il these local recollecti0n5 had less
charm than the entertaining and individual
display of the Danube fishermen on Tues
day, and the fetes. organ recitals. concerts
ana banquets which continued throughout
the holidays. On Tuesday night the fes-
tiyities came to an end They we're pro-
tracted until later still-much later than
the dying out of the last beams Of the illu-
mination from the Cathedral tower.
The Cathedral, the glory of the town,
stands in a nearly oval-shaped open space
among the gray and rather somber-gabled
houses. This edifce takes rank among the
SIX finest Gothic minister's OF Germany and
is, after Cologne, the largest, being 4S5
feet long and 200 broad. Originally three,
now five-aisled, is built without transepts
or side chapels, with that simplicity of
design which has peculiarly favored
its conversion into a Protestant place of
worship. In building it the guild of
Freemasons carried out to its fullest
development their peculiar geomet-
rical system, founding the entire edfce
upon a fundamental number, in this case
10. Though completed it is still in one
sense unfinished, the brick walls having
never yet received their coating of stone,
which gives the exterior very heavy APP
pearance and brings 1t into strong contrast
with the colossal and richly decorated
tower. The whole building, however, is
now undergoing careful restoration, and it
is hoped that funds will be procured to
bring it to perfection.
The tower, which Is flush with the main
wall and commands an extensive view of
the surrounding plains and Of the distant
Swabian Alps, is of late Gothic, of elegant
and harmonious though rich design. In the
tower hang large number Of bells, includ-