In and Around Berlin

Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this text. For a complete list, please see the end of this document . IN AND AROUND BERLIN BY MINERVA BRACE NORTON CHICAGO A.C. McCLURG AND COMPANY 1889 Copyright By A.C. McClurg and Company A.D. 1889 TO MY HUSBAND, WHOSE GENEROUS SYMPATHY MADE POSSIBLE THESE PAGES; To my Countrymen and Countrywomen WHO HAVE VISITED BERLIN; TO THOSE WHO HOPE TO GO THERE, AND TO THE LARGER NUMBER OF ARMCHAIR TRAVELLERS, I Dedicate this Book. M.B.N. CONTENTS. Chap. Page I. First Impressions 9 II. Family and Social Life 20 III. Education 51 IV. Churches 79 V. Museums 103 VI. The German Reichstag and the Prussian Parliament 125 VII. Prominent Personages 133 VIII. The Emperor's Ninetieth Birthday 159 IX. Streets, Parks, Cemeteries, and Public Buildings 179 X. Palaces 195 XI. The Homes of the Humboldts 209 XII. Philanthropic Work 221 XIII. Around Berlin 249 IN AND AROUND BERLIN. I. ToC FIRST IMPRESSIONS. t was seven o'clock of a gray November morning when we arrived in Berlin for our first residence abroad. The approach to the city reminded us of the newer parts of New York, and we found that the population was about the same. But here the resemblance ceases. New York is the metropolis of a great nation,—the heart whence arterial supplies go forth, and to which all returning channels converge; the cosmopolitan centre of a New World. Berlin is the increasingly important capital of the German Empire,—growing rapidly, but still the royal impersonation of Prussia and the Hohenzollerns; seated in something of mediæval costume and quiet beside the river Spree; as content to cast a satisfied glance backward to Frederick the Great and the Electors of Brandenburg as to look forward to imperial supremacy among the Great Powers, and the championship of continental Protestant Europe. There is one continuous thread woven through the old history and the new, and this appeared in the first hour of our stay. Everywhere on the streets the one thing most strange to our American eyes was the number of striking military uniforms mingled with the more sober garb of civilians. Officers of fine form and gentlemanly bearing, in uniforms of dark blue with scarlet trimmings and long, dragging, rattling swords, were commanding the evolutions of infantry in the main streets; while frequent glimpses of gold-laced light blue or…