The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-15

'AKl4. whole. Berlin, with its
population Of over 100000 souls,
6 is not to be outranked in splendor
by any of the cities of Europe. 1t is
utrue that its principal esplanade, the
.Unter den Linden. lis disappointing and
pot to be classed with the Champs Elysees
Iof Paris; it is true that in the great
zlnumber of handsome buildings thanking
this chief thoroughfare it is in some
points surpassed by the famous Ring
strasse of Vienna or the Nevsky Prospect
.Rof st. Petersburg, but these are specified
instances and when the capital of the
{ German empire is to be considered In its
|1ensemble no more handsome display of
A architectural glory, no greater expanse
esr massive, magnificently impressive and
Il superb buildings, public and private, are
!. TO be encountered upon the continent
s The paving of the. streets is incompar-
i able. glistening under the sunlight or
8 rays of the electric light as sheets of
0polished crystal; its Tier Garten, or public
park, while not so large as the Bois de
FL Boulogne of the French capital, is in my
opinion vastly superior in natural beauty
scenic effect and landscape disposition,
i while 1t eclipses in every feature the
e famed Prater of Vienna.
When l first visited Berlin I expert
enced a sense of keen disappointment,
but as it was during the winter season,
i and had been living for nearly a year
81 In Paris, | soon learned that it was the
. outdoor life that I missed and that the
. fault was not attributable to the city
81 itself. To fully enjoy and thoroughly
appreciate Berlin one should see 1t in the
j summer. Then it is that life al fresco Is
i in full swing; then it is that the Teuton
lis seen at his very best.
- The Inter den Linden is scarcely a
! mile in length. stretching from the EN-
4 peror's palace to the Brandenburg Thor
4 (gate), which leads to the Tier Garten.
i 1t is, however, 1856 feet in width and laid
out in six divisions, two broad side
7 walks. two carriage drives and an es-
!; planade in the center for pedestrians
. flanked by road for saddle horses.
Z This esplanade is lined upon either side
i by rows of handsome linden trees from
i which the street derives its name. In
summer the esplanade Is strung with
chairs and benches for the accommoda-
tion of the outdoor life. The benches
4 are free, but charge of 10 pfennigs is
& AGE gnr the occupancy of the chairs
i On a bright afternoon the Unter den
4 Linden is a brilliant kaleidoscope of
Y human cubes, the most flashing figures
4 of which are the superbiy groomed army
officers
Their uniform is made up of long. |
pearl-covered overcoat with silver but |
tons. high-top, patent leather boots, white |
glazed cap and white gauntlets. The |
boots are equipped with spurs and the |
sword is worn beneath the coat with only |
the handle protruding through an OPEN |
I ing at the hip. AS Germany is an armed |
camp, one sees more soldiers there than |
any other class of human beings Every |
day between noon and the hour of one
the guard is changed at the Imperial pal
ace. The battalion starts from the guard
house on the Inter den Linden and |
headed by band of music, marches to
the covrt of the palace, where the relief
takes place. Immense throngs of citi-
zens and strangers assemble here to wit
ness the maneuvers and the latter are
always greatly amused at the goose |
step displayed by the soldiers upon en-
terlng and marching across the court
This step consists in throwing the leg
4 stiff out from the hip joint and pointing
the toes toward the ground. 1t was in
vented to relieve fatigue in marching and