KAISER’S FUNERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 July 1941, Page 6

KAISER’S FUNERAL

SIMPLE CEREMONY AT DOORN. MODEST RITES OBSERVED. DOORN, June 9. Kaiser Wilhelm 11. the last ruler of Imperial Germany, was buried today on the alien soil that was him home in exile for nearly 23 years. I Modest, unobtrusive rites arranged i by the fonrer monarch 40 years ago, were conducted by the Rev. Bruno Doehring, once Wilhelm’s court preacher. The body of Germany’s World War ruler, who died last Wednesday at the age cf 82 years, found a temporary resting place in a little chapel on his Doorn estate. There it will repose until a mausoleum, also to be erected on the estate, can be built. The four bare walls of the chapel wore draped in black cloth, and directly behind the coffin was a cross embroidered in gold and black with the letters "R.1.P." underneath. The leaden, half-ton coffin was covered with purple velvet, over which was draped the imperial flag with the coat of arms in black on a yellow j background. Six candelabra shed a dim light on a profusion of floral offerings such as the former Kaiser perhaps never saw, even during his eventful life. Following today's services members ot the family returned to Berlin by special train. ■ Wilhelm left no political will. He did, however, leave a paper embodying advice to his children and his children’s children. This document is private and probably will never be revealed. From the flagstaff of his Doorn estate fluttered today . the 'black and white Hohenzollern standard. No Nazi flag was displayed, but wreaths from Reichsfuchrer Hitler and various branches cf Germany's armed forces bore the swastika and colours of the Third Reich. i Wreaths also were sent by Reichsmarshal Hermann Goering, General Field-Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch, Commander-in-Chief of the German Armies: Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, and General Field-Marshal Wiselm Keitel, head of the Nazi Supreme Command. The ceremony began when members of the royal family, D. Arthur SeyssInquart, German. Commissioner for the Netherlands; Field-Marshal August von Mackensen and a deputation representing the Bulgarian and Hungarian Governments were led into the dining-room, converted into a mortuary chapel. The coffin then was placed in the Kaiser’s car as an honour battalion presented arms and a military band played “Jesus Thou My Refuge Art.” From the house the procession moved to the little chapel in an adjacent park. Before the chapel the honour battalion again took position, and the band played "Em Feste Burg” as the audience sang this old Lutheran hymn. The blessing was pronounced by the Rev. Bruno Doehring. A final 21-gun salute boomed and the family returned to the house, whore Princess Hermine, the former Emperor's second wife. - and former Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm received condolences from honour guests. Neither Berlin nor Potsdam officially or privately- took cognisance of the Kaiser’s burial in Doorn today. The private Hohenzollern palaces on the Unter den Linden 'and at Potsdam flow the house flag at half-staff, but the press contained no mention of the I burial ceremonies.