Science and Art
The broad and many-sided field whose care devolved upon the Ministry
of Public Worship and Instruction--embracing art, science, research,
medical matters, etc.--always aroused my lively interest and enlisted
my efforts in its behalf.
Special pleasure was afforded me by the development of the Technical
High School. The increasing importance of technical matters drew ever
larger numbers of the ablest youths to institutions of learning of this
description, and the achievements of the teachers there and of the
young engineers who were graduated constantly brought new laurels to
the German name.
Among the teachers at Charlottenburg one of the most prominent and best
known all over the world was Professor Doctor Slaby. Until his death
he had constant dealings with me and kept me informed concerning the
newest inventions by means of captivating discourses. These were given
not only in his laboratory, but also in the quiet hunting lodge in the
forests of Brandenburg, where I, together with the Empress, surrounded
by a few intimates, used to listen eagerly to Slaby's words. Slaby was
also dear to me as an individual and caused me much mental enjoyment by
his simple, clear views on every possible sort of thing in this world,
which he could always express in the most stimulating and enthralling
manner. Slaby meant much to me, and I felt grateful affection for him
up to the time of his death.
Influenced by the achievements of the technical high schools and of
such men as Slaby, Intze, and so on, I resolved to grant the high
schools the same privilege of representation in the Prussian upper
house as was enjoyed by the universities. But the universities
protested vehemently against this to the Minister of Public Worship
and Instruction, and there ensued a violent fight against the
classical-scientific arrogance of the savants, until I finally enforced
my will by a decree. Slaby received the news from me by telegraph in
his laboratory while he was delivering a lecture, and gave it to the
students, who burst into wild cheers. The technical high schools have
shown themselves worthy of the honor conferred upon them.
In view of the constantly more violent fight for the markets of the
world and its outlets, it became necessary, in order to utilize the
wisdom of the leaders of German science in this direction, to provide
them with more freedom, quiet, possibility for working, and materials.
Many savants of importance were hampered in research work by their
activities as teachers, so that the only time they had left over for
research was their vacation. This state of affairs resulted in overwork
and overburdening, which had to be stopped.
CHEMICAL RESEARCH
Attention was turned first to improvements in the domain of chemistry.
Minister von Trott and Director of the Ministry Althoff, having grasped
the state of affairs with clear understanding, made possible for me the
establishment of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society and drew up the statutes
governing it. In the short time of its existence it has achieved
brilliant results and given me an opportunity, at its general meetings,
to become acquainted with eminent men in all branches of knowledge with
whom I thereafter entered into regular intercourse. I also visited
their laboratories, where I could follow the progress of their labors.
New laboratories were founded, others subsidized from the contributions
of the senate and members of the organization.
I was proud of this creation of mine, since it proved a boon to the
fatherland. The inventions due to the research of its members benefited
the entire nation. It was a peace-time achievement with a great and
most promising future, which, under the guidance of Herr von Trott, was
in most excellent hands; unfortunately, the war robbed me of this joy,
along with all others. Nowadays I must do without the intercourse with
my men of learning of my association, and that is a cruel blow to me.
May it continue to live and labor for the benefit of research and the
good of the fatherland!
I had to face a severe fight in getting Professor Harnack summoned to
Berlin. The theologians of the Right and the Orthodox element protested
vehemently. After I had again obtained full information from Hinzpeter
and he had closed his opinion with the words that it would be most
regrettable for Berlin and Prussia if I backed down, I insisted upon
the summoning of Harnack, and summoned he was.
Nowadays it is impossible to understand the opposition to him. What a
man Harnack is! What an authoritative position he has won for himself
in the world of the mind! What benefit, what knowledge, intercourse
with this fiery intellect has brought to me! What wonders he has
achieved, as head of the Royal Library and dean of the senate of
the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, where he, the theologian, delivered the
most learned and most substantial talks on exact sciences, research,
inventions, and chemistry. I shall always look back with pleasure on
the personality of Harnack and on his labors.
Professor Erich Schmidt of the University of Berlin was also a friend
of mine and was often at my home; I owe many an enjoyable evening to
the learned discourses of this savant.
Professor Schiemann enjoyed my particular confidence. An upright man,
a native of the Baltic Provinces, a champion of the Germanic idea
against Slavic arrogance, a clear-sighted politician and brilliant
historian and writer, Schiemann was constantly asked by me for advice
on political and historical questions. To him I owe much good counsel,
especially regarding the East. He was often at my home and often
accompanied me on journeys--as, for instance, to Tangier--and he
heard from me in our talks much important confidential matter not yet
known to others on political questions. His unshakable capacity for
keeping his mouth shut justified my trust in him. It was a source of
satisfaction to me to appoint this tried man curator of the University
of Dorpat, after the liberation of the Baltic Provinces.
KAISER'S RUSSIAN FORESIGHT
How well he and I agreed in our political views regarding Russia is
illustrated by the following incident: After the Peace of Portsmouth,
between Russia and Japan, brought about by me in conjunction with
President Roosevelt in 1905, there was much official (Foreign Office)
and unofficial puzzling of heads at Berlin as to what political line
Russia would take. In general it was thought that Russia, angered at
her defeat, would lean toward the West--and hence toward Germany--in
order to find there new connections and strength to help her in
striking a blow for revenge against Japan and reconquest of her lost
territory and prestige.
My opinion was quite different--but I could not make the official world
share it. I emphasized the following points: That the Russians were
Asiatics and Slavs; being the first, they would be inclined to favor
Japan, in spite of their defeat; being the second, they would like to
ally themselves with those who had proved themselves strong. Hence I
thought that, after a while, Russia, despite the Björkö Agreement,
would join Japan, not Germany, and turn later against Germany.
On account of these "fantastic" ideas, I was actually ridiculed,
officially and unofficially.
I summoned Schiemann and questioned him on this subject, without
revealing to him what I thought about it. I was much pleased when his
answer agreed absolutely with the views held by me. For a long time
Schiemann and I stood almost alone when this weighty matter of foreign
politics came up in discussions.
The event justified us. The so-called "Russian experts" of Berlin, as
well as the official world, were mistaken.
During the very first years of my reign there was occasion for much
important building work.
First, there was the question of erecting a worthy monument over the
tomb of my grandparents. Since the old mausoleum at Charlottenburg
was inadequate, it was necessary to erect an addition. Unfortunately,
the funds left by Emperor William the Great for such "extra
construction"--the so-called Extra Construction Fund--had been used
up during the ninety-nine days on something else. Hence I was obliged
to burden the Crown revenues with unforeseen building expenses. The
mausoleum of my parents at Marly was erected by the Empress Frederick,
according to her own sketches and designs, and for this, too, I had to
provide the funds.
A thorough examination of the royal palaces--including those in the
provinces--had revealed, particularly at the palace in Berlin, such
deplorable conditions in sanitation, comfort, and so on, that there
could be no more delay in remedying them. In the course of my thirty
years' reign I restored these palaces to good condition--working in
accordance with carefully prepared budgets, examined, corrected, and
supervised by myself with the help of architects (such as Ihne), and
of artists, with due regard for the traditions of my ancestors--all of
which gave me much trouble and tried my patience, but also provided me
with a great deal of enjoyment.
ARCHITECTURAL INTERESTS
In restoring the Berlin palace, the Empress Frederick, with her sure,
keen eye for the proper style and her sound judgment, helped materially
in offsetting the harm and neglect dating from bygone days. My mother's
expression of her view ought surely to be of general interest: "Any
style is good so long as it is pure." Ihne used to call the eclecticism
of the 'nineties "à peu près style" (the "almost style"). The
restoration of the Picture Gallery, the last work of Herr Ihne--who
died, unfortunately, all too soon--was not completed until during the
first half of the war. The palace of my forefathers, erected at much
pains and a source of pride to me, was later bombarded, stormed,
sacked, and devastated by revolutionary hordes.
These artistic building enterprises, as well as the already-mentioned
restoration of the White Drawing Room, belong among the duties of
representation devolving upon every Government, be it absolute,
constitutional, or democratic in form. They afford a criterion of the
national culture and are a means of encouraging artists and, through
them, the development of art.
During my vacations I busied myself with archæology and was active in
excavation work. Here I kept in view one basic idea: to discover the
roots from which ancient Greek art developed and to erect or find a
bridge in the endeavor to establish the cultural influence of the East
on the West. It appeared to me that Assyriology was important, since
from it might be expected an elucidation and vitalizing of the Old
Testament, and, hence, of the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, I accepted
with pleasure the offer of the presidency of the German Orient Society
and devoted myself to the study of its work, which I promoted to the
best of my ability, never missing one of its public lectures on the
results of its explorations. I had much to do with those at the head of
it, and caused detailed reports to be made to me of the excavations at
Nineveh, Assur, and Babylon, in Egypt and in Syria, for the protection
and facilitation of which I often personally brought influence to bear
on the Turkish Government.
Professor Delitzsch, a member of the society gave his well-known and
much-attacked lecture on "Babel and Bible," which, unfortunately, fell
upon the ears of a public as yet too ignorant and unprepared, and led
to all sorts of misinterpretations, some of them in church circles.
I strove hard to clear up the matter. Since I realized that the
importance of Assyriology, then enlisting the efforts of many prominent
men, including clergymen of both religions, was not yet understood
and appreciated by the general public, I had my trusted friend and
brilliant theater director, Count Hülsen-Haeseler, produce the play
"Assurbanipal," after long preparation, under the auspices of the
German Orient Society. Assyriologists of all countries were invited
to the dress rehearsal; in the boxes, all mixed up together, were
professors, Protestant and Catholic clergymen, Jews and Christians.
Many expressed to me their thanks for having shown, by this
performance, how far research work had already progressed and for
having, at the same time, revealed more clearly to the general public
the importance of Assyriology.
My sojourn at Corfu likewise afforded me the pleasure of serving
archæology and of busying myself personally with excavation. The
accidental discovery of a relief head of a Gorgon near the town of
Corfu led me to take charge of the work myself. I called to my aid the
experienced excavator and expert in Greek antiques, Professor Dörpfeld,
who took over the direction of the excavation work. This savant, who
was as enthusiastic as I for the ancient Hellenic world, became in the
course of time a faithful friend of mine and an invaluable source of
instruction in questions relating to architecture, styles, and so on
among the ancient Greeks and Achæans.
"ILIAD" AS A GUIDE BOOK
It was a joy to hear Dörpfeld read and elucidate the old Homeric
poems, and establish, by means of a map and following the hints and
descriptions of the poet, the location of the old Achæan settlements
destroyed later by the Doric migration. It appeared that the names
of the old places had often been transferred by the dispossessed
inhabitants to the new places. This made the identification of the
location more difficult. Nevertheless, Dörpfeld had rediscovered the
location of a whole series of them, with the help of his Homer, which
he carried in his hand like a Baedeker, hitting upon it by following
the minute geographical descriptions given by Homer.
This interested me so much that I took a trip by water, with the
Empress, in the company of Dörpfeld, in order to put the matter to the
test. We went to Leukas (Ithaca) and visited, one after another, the
places made famous by the "Odyssey," while Dörpfeld read from his Homer
the descriptive text referring to each. I was amazed and had to admit
that the region and the description tallied exactly.
The excavations begun by me in Corfu under Dörpfeld's direction
had valuable archæological results, since they produced evidence
of an extremely remote epoch of the earliest Doric art. The relief
of the Gorgon has given rise already to many theories--probable
and improbable--combined, unfortunately, with a lot of superfluous
acrimonious discussion. From all this, it seems to me, one of the piers
for the bridge sought by me between Asia and Europe is assuming shape.
I sent reports regularly to the Archæological Society, and I also
brought the well-known Professor Caro from Athens to work with me. I
was busy with preparations for lectures to be delivered before the
society during the winter of 1914-15, and with searching discussions
on many disputed questions, which I hoped to bring toward a solution
"sine ira et studio." It was a pleasure to me to be visited almost
regularly, at Corfu, by English and American archæologists, former
pupils of Dörpfeld, who helped zealously in throwing light on the
difficult problems which often came up. Since they were at work in Asia
Minor, I was deeply interested in hearing what importance they attached
to the Asiatic influence on early Greek art--as a result of their
discoveries--and how readily they recognized a connection with the
East in the finds made at Corfu. In 1914, Professor Duhn of Heidelberg
visited the excavations at Corfu and, after thorough investigation,
gave his support to the views held by Dörpfeld and me. I shall tell in
a separate piece of writing about the result of my Corfu excavations.
That was the sort of thing which, in the spring of 1914, occupied the
thoughts of the German Emperor, who, lusting for robbery and conquest,
is accused of having bloodthirstily brought on the World War. While I
was exploring and discussing Gorgons, Doric columns, and Homer, they
were already mobilizing against us in the Caucasus and Russia. And the
Tsar, at the beginning of the year, when asked about his travel plans,
had replied: "Je resterai chez moi cette année, car nous aurons la
guerre!" ("I shall stay at home this year, for we are going to have
war!")