Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-12-09
seRLlh's GRAND FAME
New Cathedral Of Germany, an I'm.
posing Structure, 10 Nearing
Completion.

tbs in the Chicago Record-Herald.-
The new cathedral of Germany. or the
Dom (dome). as 1t is familiarly called,
is gradually approaching completion.
1t stands on the banks OF the River
Spree, admidst group OF palaces
and museums at the term
mus of Inter den Linden, and will be
one of the largest and grandest &C.
clesiastical edifices in the world. 1t
has been under construction for near
ly quarter of a century. and not be
ready for dedication for at least
three years more. 1t Is an imposing
| building, somewhat smaller than st.
Paul's in London, but probably the
third in size of all the great churches
in the world 1t was designed by q
German architect after competition,
and there is an interesting story in
that connection.
| The late Empress Frederick, theu
the wife Of the Crown Prince of Ger
many. always had passion for arch
itecture, and took great interest in
the competition for the new cathe-
| dra1. She even went so far as to pre-
pare plans of her own, but, before
submitting them to the board of
ward. found it necessary to consult
a trained architect for advice and as
| sistance concerning some of the en-
gineering details. She was wise in
her choice. She sent for one of the
government engineers who had super
! vised the erection of several conspic-
Tuous buildings, and took him into her
| confidence. He told her that she
must not submit her plans, because
| if it were known that she were
| competitor every architect in the
list would be compelled to withdraw,
| which, of course, would be very bad
| for the profession and throw great re-
spensibility upon her personally.
These people," he said, ARE earn
ing their living. and you are merely
an amateur. You do not realize the
injustice you would infict upon
| them
The Empress Frederick had not re-
garded the matter from that point OF
view, but Immediately realized the
justice of the admonition and prom
ised not to submit her plans in COM
petition. provided the engineer would
exhibit them privately to members
Of the board of awards and obtain
from them an opinion concerning
their merit without allowing them to
know the author. Her wishes were
complied with, and she had the satis-
faction of receiving a very fiattering
compliment. although the judges de.
tected several rudimentary defects
which would have caused them to re-
ject the plans If they had been offer
ed in competition.
The present Empress of Germany
has passion for building churches.
She spends all her surplus funds that
way, and is always soliciting contribu-
tiOns from members of the court and
rich people generally to carry out her
hobby. She has been the means of
adding quite number to the list of
the houses of worship of the Lutheran
church and has usually selected some
bare and vacant spot that was other
wise useless, which suggested wit
Ccism
At the theater one night party of
gentlemen noticed a man with very
large bald head in the row of seats
in front of them. Poking MIN In the
the back, one of them called his
attention to the fact that the empress
was in the royal box, and" ne added,
Il suggest that you put on a skull
cap. because If she sees your bald
head she will certainly build q church
there"
The empress is good woman and
a good mother. She has brought up
her boys to wait upon themselves and
do useful things, and, SO far as her
position has permitted, has tried to
make their lives simple and unosten
tatious. A clergyman told me an in
teresting story the other day, which
illustrates her description in this re-
spect.
Frau Frommel is the widow of
former court pastor, who, until his
death about year ago, was the re-
| ligious instructor of the kaiser's
boys, and they were all very fond Of
him and her. She now lives in a
quiet little house provided for her by
the emperor in the suburbs of Pots
dam. and the empress and the princes
! visit her In an informal way as fire.
quently as possible. One afternoon
last summer a carriage drove up to
Frau Frommel's door and the en-
press and three of her sons alighted.
I'VE have come to take tea with
you, Frau Frommel," exclaimed the
empress.
The good woman threw up her
hands and expressed her regret that
she had allowed all all of her servants
holiday, and that she WAS alone in
the house.
"Then II will be all the merrier. "
said the empress. 'The boys and I
will assist in making tea" and so
they did. The crown prince built the
fire. Eitel-Fritz set the table and
Oscar cut the bread. Then they sat
down and had jolly time Of IT, Just
as II they were ordinary people. and
when the empress kissed Fran From.