The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-28
tcopyright. 1914. by Curtis Brown.)

the chief topics of conversation throughout Germany. The financial embarrassment of the princes trust, the possibility of war with Russia, Prrssian franchise. and the crown princes latest quarrel with his father, all have been lost sight of in the ex- haustive discussions of the daily doings of the Kaiser's only daughter and her husband, their comings and goings, their method of living and their plans for the future. Although the young est of the sovereigns of the minor Ger man states they have become the most interesting and prominent
 This is true, both in a domestic and in a political sense Their union re- nlizes the fairy tale written 30 years ago by Klein on "The King With Six Sons and one Daughter" In this tale the Kings only daughter, Freide Gin English "Peace') marries the son of the Kings political foe, and restores abiding harmony. When Germans re- fleet that William II, too has six sons and one daughter and that the daugh- ters marriage, despite misgivings at the time of the ceremony. has healed the 50-year-old feud between Guelph and Hohenzollern, the story seems to have been a prophecy. Any they apply to Brunswick's sovereigns the little Electromagnetic reconcilia- ton pair--borne by Klein's imaginary lover.
 The Brunswick marriage, fortunate as it was for Germanys political consolida- ton, is proving more fortunate still a In he is. realizing her girlhood's ideal that mar ria se,, should not, as it mostly does with royalties. sever the Intimate relations with home That, too, was the Kaiser in's prayer. Berliners said that Princess Victoria Louise, when a back fisch of l5 declared she would never marry. She would not sacrifice her home attach ments-attachments to parents. brothers and sister-in-law. rooms, garden, books and photographs. She would not wed into a foreign land. This looked lige perpetual spinsterhood, for eligible princes within reach of Berlin were few and the Kaiser's attempts 10 make peace with the exiled Brunswick dynasty, the Cumberlands, had been scornfuly re- pelled. Now with Princess Victoria Lou ise happily settled at Brunswick, only two hours from Berlin, the Kaiser in keeps her daughter while losing her and the daughter sees realized the epgram of the poet Paul Heyse, "in an ideal marriage the girl finds a new life with out sacrificing the old.'
 Brunswiekers complain a little that Duchess Victoria Louise has brought to them too much of home.
 Her family attachments and her marked individuality of character are coloring in Prussian spirit Brunswick court and society life, and are infilu- encing the strongly individualized life of the Brunswickian people. Duchess Victoria Louise is typical Prussian, with the physical activity, the wide range of inter ests, the love of chatter and the acid humor of the traditional Berliner kind. This has brought peace full clashes with Brunswick. The Bruns- wickers boast more than any north German people-except perhaps the Mecklenburgers-a national character They are conservative, well bred, and out of date. Brunswick women are known for pretty faces and ugly clothes They feel too distinguished, say satirists, to worry about dress. Compared with Berliners they are slow To Princess Victoria Louise, Brunswick has been almost as new world as if 1t were in foreign land. ,But already the city is being infiu- enced in a Berlin direction. The duchess remains as before a Berliner kind.
 Duchess Victoria Louise is an un- tiring reformer, changer, meddler, and moulder. Immediately after she and her husband were installed as sover- eigns of Brunswick the court and palace life as conducted since 1907 by the Regent Duke Johann Albrecht of Mackenburg-was radically changed in a direction opposite to local eXpecta- tions. Brunswick awaited a reversion to the ceremonial court etiquette which fourished before 1884, when the last Duke of Brunswick died Venerable scholss buffers and maitres d'hotel, who remembered the duke. rejoiced at the impending revival of the famous Bruns- wick dinner eitquette the limit Of old German tedium and solemnity. Wait was the refrain, "till the young duke comes into his own" Instead, the new sovereign set to living in the sim ple way observed by Prussias court on all but ceremonial occasions Bruns- wick learned that the duke and duchess dined in small room on an Hpper floor of the schloss, and were attended at dinner by a single servant Sim plification and modernization were to be the rules of the new court life.
 Duchess Victoria Louises present cupation-interrupted temporari- ly by the birth of the heir-is the mod ernization of her own part if the schloss Externally the schloss which was built in 1865, is modern enough, It is one of the handsomest of Ger ann palaces, and has an imposing fa- cade 520 feet long, facing towards the center of the city where are grouped the museum, cathedral, rathus, and other public buildings. The moderniz- ing is being done inside Before 1907 the palace was tenanted by the first re- gent Prince Albrecht of Prussia, whom Brunswick detested because he was too Prussian, but who had not Prus- sian tastes. Prince Albrect decorated many of the private rooms, including .hose which form the present duchess Suite. in French Rococo style. Duchess Victoria Louise is modernizing these