Realm Day

Sixty years ago last week (while the White House was inhabited by Ulysses Simpson Grant) one Paul von Hindenburg, 23, Prussian lieutenant, cheered himself hoarse in the Palace of Versailles, hailed the first German Emperor, Wilhelm I, hailed Prince Otto von Bismarck's proclamation of the "German Realm," the glorious Deutsches Reich! The Realm or Reich remains--as a republic. Last week the victorious Imperial banners of 1871 were unfurled again in the Reichstag (this time by steel-helmeted Republican troops) and old Paul von Hindenburg, President of the Republic, searched his heart. He is 83. To a microphone, directly after the formal Reichstag celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Deutsches Reich, he said, addressing a group of war veterans including some as old as himself: "Dear comrades, 60 years ago today I was among those who hailed the first Kaiser of the resurrected German Reich. Since then we have lost much that was dear to us, and that will survive always in our old soldiers' hearts. "But one thing has remained, and that is the Fatherland! This we will serve in its need beyond all party strife in selfless love and loyalty. And in this hour of consecration we will renew our pledge with the old cheer: 'Deutschland Hurra!' "

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