San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-11-15
Glte 9utlY 5t9ht.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, '94
The Reichstag Building.

Reichstag structure, Is 10 pe 1or-
mally opened today. 1t Is by no
means complete, but 1t Is the
young Kaiser's earnest wish that
the German Parliament should
hold its next session in the great
hall designed for it, and thousands
are therefore at work to see that
his desire in the matter is at least
made possible. There is fully
another years work within the
building In the way Of deco
rations and the making and plac-
ing of the statuary designed to fill
the thousand inches in the mas
sive corridors Of this monumental
structure.
For twelve years the workmen
have been busted on this building,
which, with it's graceful front
faces the famous green sward OF
the still more famous Thiergarten,
and with it's terraced rear looks
down upon the hustle and turmoil
of busy Berlin. 1t is an ideal To-
cation, selected as 1t was by the
greatest of Germany's landscape
artists. From its top, on which
the imperial crown rests like a
gem set in the sky, the view of the
great city Is enhancing. 1t towers
even above the great column OF
Victory, which commentaries the
result of the FrancO-German war.
The statue of Germania holds the
place Of honor on the facade, and
the frieges underneath it are Ger
man arms and NEUROLOGICAL
figures telling the story of early
Teutonic times. Underneath this
is the dedicatory inscription, "To
the German People," Its German
letters form the words "Den Deut-
schen Woke" Tue ornamental
work and the statuary which al
ready adorn the outside of the
structure are the work OF a host
of Germany's masters, among
whom towers the sculptor of the
Germania statue, ReinhOld Vegas.
Itwas in 1880 that the Reichs-
rath first gave to the world the
conception Of this new structure.
1t seemed to be an impulse of the
nation, and the German popula-
Sion showed in unmistakable ways
that nothing would tend more to
completely cement the German
federation than a monumental
structure which would belong to
the nation and be typical not alone
Of its unity, but of its great adj
vances in science, art and archi-
lecture. 1t was to be a browning
event in the history OF the new
Germany, and this indeed it has
proven to be. When on June 9,
1854, the old Emperor, William l,
laid the cornerstone, his impress
sive words, few as they were,
breathed the noble spirit OF pat
riotism and were much in the
nature of a prediction that the
completion Of the struture would
find reunited Germany the strong
est nation on the face of the earth.
Not until 1882 was the prize ar
chitectural competition decided.
Hundreds OF plans had been sub
mitted by the greatest and the
least, by the masters and the
mediocre, and it remained for a
man practically unknown to even
his own nation to win the great
prize. 1t was to Paul Wallot that
the honor was accorded. He was
born at Oppenheim on the Rhine,
was educated at Darmstadt, in the
chronological institutes Of Berlin
and Hanover, and later perfected
himself in his art in the studies OF
Gropius, Lucae and Hitzig. In
1869 he located in Frankfort-on-
the-Main, and soon became a
local celebrity. He is not alone a
great architect, but a talented
landscape artist, and a remark
ably clever civil engineer. 1t was
he who laid out the famous Gen.
trail Cemetery of Dresden, and in
1881 took third prize in the COM
ception of the great Stephania
Bridge Of Vienna. For almost
two years the Government off,
Gals and consulting architects
were busted changing and revis-
ing the plans to more completely
suit the location. In the first con-
ception of the building the archi-
tect had designed the main hall
directly under the great cupola,
intending that it should be flood
ed with light. 1t was almost a
within of the old Emperor that
occasioned change in the design
80 far as this idea was concerned.
At gathering of all those inter
ested the old Emperor remarked
that it would be very hard on Mr..