New-York tribune., 1908-05-17
OLD CASTLE RESTORED.
Kaiser Sees Ceremony Reproducing
One of MedieUaI Days.

| One OF the oldest castles in Europe built at
time when robber bands infested the highways AMI
monarchs led crusades to recover Jerusalem from
the Turk. the of picturesque revival of
medieval splendor the other day. in the presence
OF the German Emperor and Empress. The Kais Ar
viewed with satisfaction the restoration done by
MS command to the venerable Hohkongsburg, sit
uated Schlettstadt In lower Alsaee and en-
toyed the quaint pageant got up for the
SION A spectator could have imagined himself
back in the period of mailed knights and yeomen
armed with crossbows, although weapons of more
modern time were displayed along with the accou-
trements and costumes of extreme antiquity. The
castle itself with its drawbridges and portcuises,
told of feudal architecture eight centuries ago and
II seemed as II helmeted warriors were peering
from the turrets and taking aim with catapuIts
from the bastions The circuit of massive walls,
sufficient to house army Of retainers inspired re-
spect and suggested rock-hewn dungeons and dis
NAL chambers. where the lord of the ief passed
swift judgment his churls.
tent set up in medieval style in front CT
the castle gates, and from this the Emperor and
Empress watched mimic ceremony of the three
brothers Won Sckingen receiving the castle from
the imperial warden in olden time. There We're
three hundred persons costumed soldiers knights,
squres and huntsmen who took part in the
pageant. A fanfare or trumpets the signal for
the gates Of the castle to open their ponderous
hinges and herald advanced from the forest at
the foot of the hill. The herald rected prologue,
and then the procession went up the hill and passed
before the Emperor into the courtyard. The three
Won Sickingens. on gay1y trapped palfreys.
followed by squire bearing their standard. Then
came soldiers. who walked uphill with difficulty
under the weight Of blunderbusses, two handed
swords and long pixies. Pieces of artillery that
had seen service in the Thirty Years War lurn-
bered along with forage carts and ammunition
wagons containing massive round shot. host of
camp followers, useful to act laborers in cam
paisn. to sell provisions to the army and buy the
spos Of victory, brought up the of the process
sion The style and coors of the uniforms were
entirely authentic. while many of the weapons
shown were originals from private collections. All
classes Of the population of Schlettstadt marched
in the procession, which paraded through the deco
rated streets of the town after the Emperor and
Empress had presided at q banquet within the
castle.
The Hohkonissburg came into the possession of
state only part of the main building. with three
wings, two towers and the outer wall. remaining
OF the original pile The Emperor commissioned
Professor Bodo Ebhardt, authority on ancient
ca stiles. to restore Hohkonigsburg to its former
splendor. The work done by Professor Ebhardt
has been criticised in quarters. and 1t
particularly that reproduction of the castle on an
ivory plate dating from the sixteenth century and
discovered lately by strasburg antiquary. shows
q very different castle from the that has been