The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-02
Thousands Swarm the Streets,
While Bells Ring Outa
Welcome.
GERMAN-AMERICANs HoNoRED.
Given a Position Commanding the
Entrance to the Memorial
Church.

auguraI ceremonies OF the celebration or
the twenty-fifth anniversary of the battle
of Sedan, the decisive engagement of the
Franco~Prussian war, were cele brated to-
day.
The weather was clear and bright
throughout the day. The wind blew
strong from the northwest and the tenn
perature was low. Crowds lined the
streets from Bellevue in the Thiergarten
over the Hercules bridge of Kurfursten-
damn. Galleries were erected opposite
the main entrance to the Emperor William
! Memorial Church, which were occupied
by $4,000 girls attired in light colored
dresses. A new house facing the entrance
of the church, and built in the style of the
edifice, was covered with decorations, al
though it was unoccupied.
The church itself was completely
covered with flags, banners, flowers and
garlands. Troops lined the roadway in
front of the church, and the German
American veterans held position around
the porch commanding the entrance.
This was really the position of honor.
At $50 o'clock this morning the ringing
of the church bells signalized the En-
His Majesty rode with the Empress in an
open carriage with outriders, escorted by a
squadron of body guards. The Crown
Prince and his next youngest brother,
Prince Eitel, were seated in the carriage
opposite the Emperor and Empress. Both
Princes wore the uniform of the First In
fantry Guard. The Empress wore a steel
gray gown of silk and a triplet cape bear
ing the ribbon of the Black Eagle. Her head
dress was a Florentine straw bonnet, with
strawberry colored velvet ribbons. When
the Emperor reached the top step of the
entrance to the church, Her Won Wedel
Minister of the Royal Household, adj
dressed him, saying:
Upon the anniversary of Gravelotte the foun-
dalton stone of the monument to the great
Kaiser Wilhelm I was laid. Now, on the
twenty-ifth anniversary OF Sedan, your Ma
jesty opens the church which was built with
the funds contributed by the poor and rich
equally throughout the country in memory of
the Emperor, who, in his simple and religious
feeling, attributed oil of his great deeds and
victories to God, giving US all in this and COM
ing ages an impressive example of trust and
belief in God, without whose aid we unable
TO succeed. May Gods blessing be upon US all
now please receive the key from the architect?
The procession then entered the church,
headed by the Kaiser. The Grand Duchess
of Baden and the Empress followed the
Emperor, and then came the Imperial
Princes. The colors of the regiments to
which the royalties belonged were placed
on the right and left of the altar. The
Emperor, Empress and other members of
the royal family sat in choir chairs of
carved oak placed at the left of the altar
steps.
Court Chaplain Faber delivered an adj
dress, sketching the life of William the
Great, in which he praised that monarch
childlike and simple-minded piety, kind
ness and thoughtfulness for the lowest of
his servants and his sincere fear of God.
After the ithurgy, Superintendent
Lange, who presided at the organ, began
the musical part of the ceremony. Through
some misunderstanding he started the
music before the "Amen" had been pro-
nounced, causing an awkward break in the
services. DR.. Muller preached a sermon
from the text of the Goth Psalm.
After the ceremonies at the church the
Emperor. Empress and the rest of the
royal party, preceded by Herr Won Wedel,
left the church by the center aisle. AS
they reached the steps leading from the
edifice they stopped while the bells rang.
AS they got outside the church the children
ranged on either side of the walk and sang
"Die Wacht am Rhein." The soldiers,
who had been stationed at various points
in the vicinity of the church, headed by
their bands of music and with colors fly
ing, then passed before the Emperor, while
the children sang "Hel dir i'm Sieges-
kranz."
While the children were singing, the
Emperor and Empress entered their car
rage and drove away amid the cheers of
the assembled people. After the departure
of the Emperor the high officials left, and
the German-American veterans, together
with the German veterans societies with
their banners, entered the church and
marched up and down the aisles. The
veterans were followed by the children and
several singing SOCIETIES.
1t was noticed that the Emperor, con-
trary to arrangements previously made,
did not walk along the line of the German
American veterans or the German yete-
rams, nor did he notice either of them.
Accompanying the Kaiser and Kaiserin
were the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess
of Baden and the King of Saxony. Their
Majesties were received by General Count
Blumenthal, General Freiherr Won Lobe,
General Won Winterfeld, General Prince
Frederick Won Hohenzollern, Court Chap
ain Faber and other general superintend-
ents, together with the following members
of the board of the Protestant Church
Building Society President, Minister of the
Royal Household Won Wedel; Vice-Presi-
dent Won Hardt; treasurer, Privy Coun-
cilor Won Burchard; the president OF the
Berlin committee, Priyy Councillor DIR.
Fischer; Councillor Arnold, Freiherr Won
Bodelschwingh, Judge to Board of Com
merce Borner, Attorney General DR.. Bor-
chett, Privy Councillors Professor Ende
and Frentzel, Councillor Hubert, Town
Councillor kochhann, DIR. Martens, Privy
Councillor Mendelsohn Bartholdy, Freiherr
Won Merbach, Director Riecken, Councillor
Schmidt, Building Director Spieker,
President Weymann, Minister of Public
Worship DIR. Bosz, President of the Protes-
tant Church DR.. Barhausen, Vice President
Professor Freiherr Won der Goltz. Presi-
dent of Consistory Schmidt, Director of