The Ex Kaiser’s Throne on the Capitoline Hill
The following extract from the “Sphere” will give some idea of the boundless ambition of the man who was like the shadow of Antichrist, and who sought to rule the world. Now in lonely Amerongen he has time to muse on the instability of earthly thrones, and the madness of earthly ambitions. The writer in the “Sphere” says:—
“It is not generally known that in the Kaiser’s plan for achieving the hegemony of the world the reconstruction of the Holy Roman Empire was the central theme. Claiming himself to be the ‘Son of Charlemagne,’ he would be crowned in Rome, on the Capitoline Hill, clad in the traditional garments of the Roman Emperors and decorated with the imperial diadem, which is still preserved in Vienna. That was to be the final act of the great drama for which the curtain was rung up six years ago. As far back as 1870 the Prussians began their preparations for the event. They purchased the Caffarelli Palace on the Capitoline Hill, and made it the official residence of the German Ambassador in Rome. In the grand reception hall, which is twice the size of that in the Quirinal, the Kaiser had his throne erected—it is seen in the picture. Above the throne a huge fresco was painted, symbolizing the onrush of armed Germany, and bearing in the center an allegorical figure representing the Kaiser himself seated on a galloping horse.”