Early 19th C. Etiquette in Prussia

The Prussian government authorized the rigid prohibition of  the wearing of corsets during daily gymnastic exercises.

ETIQUETTE IN PRUSSIA

Government Rules That Station Master Should Salute Women Subordinates First

 A 2nd Debut Article from 2016

By Associated Press. BERLIN, Oct. 21.— Among the odd decisions published today Is that of the Prussian Railway Administration on a point of etiquette advanced by a station master on the Lower Rhine, who asked for a ruling as to whether the young women subordinates in his office should not recognize him first on the street instead of waiting to be saluted according to the prevailing customs. The government directed the station master to salute first. The principal of the girls’ high school at Saarbruecken inquired of the provincial government if she has authorized to forbid the young women to wear corsets during gymnastic exercises. The government authorized their rigid prohibition.- Los Angeles Herald, 1905

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Prussian Princess Etiquette

On State occasions, there is comparatively little ceremony observed here, but everyday life of the Prussian royal family seems to be regulated more strictly on the principle of etiquette, than that of Queen Victoria. 

Victoria's Daughter in Prussia

The Berlin correspondent of the Daily Telegraph writes as follows: The reserve manner at the Royal palace has given rite to various rumors, which have caused much delight to the good people here. The heroine of the incidents I refer to is Princess Victoria. You must know that on State occasions, there is comparatively little ceremony observed here, while the everyday life of the Royal family seems to be regulated more strictly on the principle of etiquette, than that of Queen Victoria.

A Prussian Princess, for instance, is not allowed by her Mistress of the Robes to take up a chair, and, after having carried it through the whole breadth of the room, to put it down in another corner. It was while committing such an act that Princess Victoria was lately caught by Countess Perponcher. 

The venerable lady remonstrated, with a considerable degree of official earnestness. 'I tell you what,' she replied — nothing daunted the royal heroine of the story — 'I tell you what, my dear Countess, you are probably aware of the fact of my mother being the Queen of England?' The Countess bowed in assent. 'Well,' resumed the bold Princess, 'then I must reveal to you another fact. Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, has not once, but very often, so far forgotten herself as to take up a chair. I speak from personal observation, I can assure you. Nay, I am not greatly deceived, I noticed one day my mother carrying a chair in each hand, in order to set them for her children. Do you really think that my dignity forbids anything which is frequently done by the Queen of England?' 

The Countess bowed again and retired, perhaps not without a little astonishment at the biographical information she had heard. However, she knew her office, and resolved to prove not less staunch to her duties than the Princess to her principles. A scene similar to the one narrated recently happened, when Countess Perponcher, on entering one of the remote chambers, took the Princess by surprise, while busily engaged in the homely occupation of arranging and stowing away a quantity of linen, but all objections the Countess could urge were again beaten back in another equally unanswerable argument taken from the every day life of the Mistress of Windsor Castle. 

After having gained these two important victories, Princess Victoria, true to the auspicious omen of her name, carried the war into the enemy's camp. The Chambermaids, whose proper business it is to clean the rooms, discharge the duties of their position in silk dresses. The daughter of the richest sovereign in the world decided to put a stop to this extravagance.

One fine morning she had all the female servants summoned to her presence, and delivered what may be considered a highly successful maiden speech. She began by telling them the expense of their dresses must evidently exceed the rate of their wages. She added that as their wages were not to be raised, it would be very fortunate for them if they were allowed to assume cotton articles of clothing. 'In order to prevent every misunderstanding,' the Princess continued, 'I shall not only permit, but order you to do so. You might know that there ought always to be a difference in the dress of mistress and servant. Don't think that I want to hurt your feelings ; you will understand my intention at once, if I tell you that.' 

And now came the same unanswerable argument from the Court of St. James, she told them briefly that at that Court, people in their position performed their duties in cotton, and that she liked to be ruled by her mother's practice. — The Daily Alta, 1858

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1905 Etiquette Decisions in Prussia

The Prussian government authorized the rigid prohibition of  the wearing of corsets during daily gymnastic exercises.

Prussian Etiquette Rulings

Government Rules That Station Master Should Salute Women Subordinates First

Associated Press, BERLIN, Oct. 21.— Among the odd decisions published today is that of the Prussian railway administration on a point of etiquette advanced by a station master on the Lower Rhine, who asked for a ruling as to whether the young women subordinates in his office should not recognize him first on the street instead of waiting to be saluted according to the prevailing customs. The government directed the station master to salute first. 

On another note, the principal of the girls' high school at Saarbruecken inquired of the provincial government, if she was authorized to forbid the young women to wear corsets during gymnastic exercises. The government authorized their rigid prohibition.–1905

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette and Diplomacy in Berlin

Aaron Sargent, was the the U.S. minister to Germany from May 1882 to June 1884. A political appointee as the Head of the U.S. Legation at Berlin, Sargent had a reputation as being loud-mouthed and disrespectful toward Otto von Bismarck, (the conservative Prussian statesman dominating German and European affairs from the late 1860's to 1890.) He also conferred openly with Bismarck’s liberal opponents who favored free trade, threatening retaliation for Germany’s prohibition of meat imports from America. When Eduard Lasker died in early 1884, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a provocative resolution mourning the death of the leader of the German Liberals. Sargent then delivered the resolution to the German government. But Bismarck declared that Sargent’s continued presence was an insult to Germany, adamantly refusing to accept the resolution. Sargent subsequently resigned and was replaced by a much more tactful diplomat, John Kasson.

A silly story is telegraphed that the German Court is now discussing the question whether Minister Sargent ought to be invited to the Emperor's birthday reception, coupled with the prediction that if he attends, "he will certainly be personally affronted." It is safe to assert that the etiquette of the Court of Berlin does not permit it to invite anybody — least of all a foreign minister— to a reception for the express purpose of insulting him. — Daily Alta California, 1884

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Etiquette, Bismarck and Victoria

Victoria, Princess Royal, German Empress, Queen of Prussia,  detested Prussia's emphasis on its army. This was to be expected, however, considering her British upbringing. “Vicky,”  as she was known, hoped to influence Prussia away from the tradition of “Warrior Kings” in favor of "a new line of enlightened executives." Though supported by her husband, she was bound to clash with Bismarck's rising force. The Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's most important legacy is the unification of Germany. Germany had existed as a collection of hundreds of separate principalities and Free Cities since the formation of the Holy Roman Empire. Over the centuries various rulers had tried to unify the German states without success until Bismarck. Resulting largely from his efforts, the varying German kingdoms united into a single country. Bismarck's psychology and personal traits have not been so favorably received over time, and historian Jonathan Steinberg portrays a demonic genius who was deeply vengeful, even toward his closest friends and family members. 

Bismarck and the Crown Princess Victoria

London, November 25th— Court circles in Berlin are discussing the reconciliation which has just been effected between Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Bismarck. Their hostility had been of many years' duration, and was known to all the world, although it was thinly veiled by court ceremony. Many reasons have been assigned for it, but its real origin was the utter incompatibility of the Chancellor and the Princess. 

Prince Bismarck scorns and condemns the little niceties of polite society, and estimates women only as a factor in the problem of the continuance of the German nation. The Crown Princess had her education in a court and country where women arc treated with much deference, and where the canons of etiquette cannot be violated without serious consequences. The Princess has been, next to the aged Empress, the first lady in Germany, and refused to submit to what she termed Bismarck's boorishness. The result was warfare, sometimes open, sometime covert, as the necessities of court life required. 

Now there has been a reconciliation, and the question is; Which power conquered? The story most current in Berlin is as follows ... The Crown Princess, powerful as she is now, will be still more so when she becomes Empress of Germany. This must happen soon, and may happen at any time. 

The Chancellor is cultivating the friendliest relations with the Crown Prince, who may soon be Emperor, and has fouud it also desirable to propitiate the Crown Princess. He has, therefore, instituted certain reforms in his household and in his manners which makes his personality less disagreeable to her Imperial Highness. — Sacramento Daily Union, 1884

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Polite Love and Secret Love

Empress Augusta clearly abhorred war. In 1864, she founded the National Women's Association, which looked after wounded and ill soldiers and she convened with Florence Nightingale for ideas. From the Empress' initiative, several hospital foundations still exist today, including the German Society For Surgery.

Romance of an Ex-Empress:

The Story of an Affair Remembered by Only a Few People

A Berlin letter has the following romance about the recently deceased Empress Augusta of Germany: A member of the suite of one of the best known among our Princes tells a romantic story concerning the dead Empress Augusta, and it is believed that it has never before been given to the public.

Augusta was a Princess in the petty Court of Weimar, where she was hedged about with all the straitlaced etiquette the small German principalities affected. When she was seventeen she was a romantic girl and had learned by heart the stories of the previous half century's gallantries at the Court of Louis XIV, and so well had she read that she was prepared to fall in love with any man who might first appeal to her sense of beauty; but the rigid surveillance of her Ducal father and mother made male acquaintances almost impossible. 

Before this romantic spirit had lived long enough to die, a young French noble scion of a more or less long lineage stopped at the Court Weimar in the progress of a pleasure jaunt from Auvergne. He remained for some weeks at this place and became a favorite of the Duke. He was accomplished, handsome, and a daredevil. At a Court ball, shortly following his arrival, the Frenchman met the Princess. They were permitted to become partners and indulged in mutual love at first night. 

This love soon developed into indiscretion, which took the form of secret meetings in the palace grounds. The only people aware of these trysts were the maid and valet of the principals who served as the medium through which the correspondence was carried on, and the meetings arranged. 

The maid, whether through carelessness or spite, lost one of the letters intrusted to her, and it was picked up by the Duchess, mother of Augusta, before the maid could recover it. The letter was passionate and eloquent, burning with the love song of the smitten Parisian, and filled with all those pretty words that came in with the Grand Monarch. 

This was all very well, for the two were young, but it led up to the suggestion of an elopement. It implored flight, and pictured the ideal life of love on the pastoral lands of the new America. The Duke and Duchess were consumed with rage at this discovery, and poured their indignation in unstinted volume. So high did feeling run in Court that the Ducal Chamberlain challenged the Frenchman to a duel, and the lover fell, mortally wounded. 

As he fell the Frenchman tore open his tunic, and there, pressed against his heart, was a handkerchief belonging to the Princess. Toward it his hand feebly moved, and he died at the moment he had seized the lace and was struggling to carry it to his lips. The Duchess was so affected by the incident that she silently placed the handkerchief on the breast of the young man as he lay in the coffin, and it was buried with him. His body was covered with roses, strewn upon him by the devoted Augusta, and she, from swoons and sobs, became hysterical and almost crazed. 

For weeks, the Princess sobbed about the palace, until her parents were convinced that her sorrow must have some relief or she would become insane. They suggested a marriage with Prince William of Prussia. and the Princess gave her indifferent consent, careless and thoughtless of what might become of her. 

With William it was a matter of equal unimportance, for he had first been crossed in a love affair, and he was heartbroken as well. There was no misunderstanding between them on the subject of their marriage. It was an affair exclusively of the parents and of an obedient but disconsolate youth and maiden. 

During their lifetimes, the Emperor William and the Empress Augusta maintained toward each other a most perfect and severe politeness. They were friends, they respected each other, but that was all. They were not lovers, and they could not tear from their hearts the memories of their early love and their early disappointment. 

The Empress always preferred French books, ideas, dress, and sentiment, and it was her favorite language. The influence of that unhappy loss remained with her until the last moment, and she doubtless carried the sweet regrets to the grave. Years have effaced remembrance of the affair, and it is safe to say that less than a dozen great personages know of it to-day. —The Marin Journal, 1890

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Royal Etiquette Relaxed for Holiday

Potsdam at Christmas.... Potsdam was a residence of the Prussian Kings and the German Kaiser, until 1918.

The 1895 German Christmas season, according to reports made by the leading shops in Berlin, shows a boom in business. The sale of the cheaper class of goods has been slack in favor of the higher and more costly class, and the casual onlooker would consider that the merchants, as well as the public, have been having a fine time all around. The "North German Gazette" says that Berlin has received and sent out Christmas parcels far exceeding in number those sent and received during Christmas week of 1894.

The celebration in the new palace at Potsdam on Christmas Eve was even more brilliant than usual. The Emperor and Empress and the members of their family entered the Shell Hall at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, attended by the members of the Imperial household. The presents were spread out upon tables placed along the walls, and the young Princes could hardly be restrained from infractions of etiquette by rushing forward to admire the handsome gifts before all of the company had assembled. 

Immediately after the company had taken their positions, the members of the Emperor's suite, the court ladies, the Emperor, the Empress and the Princes, with their suite, having been assigned to places forming a square with a plastic representation of the nativity at Bethlehem in the cener, the Kaiser allowed court etiquette to relax, and everybody mixed freely with the others. The young Princes ran about, discovering fresh sources of delight upon each table, but after an hour's enjoyment of this kind, the children were obliged to retire.

The Emperor dined with his intimate circle, Dr. Von Tucanus, General Von Hahnke and others of his private Cabinet. — Sacramento Daily Union, 1895

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Wilhelm's Changes in Etiquette

 A great deal of the solemn etiquette of the ordinary court life has been done away with, the staff reduced in several ways, and there have even been economies in the kitchen. The officers of the guard have to put up with beer instead of champagne!

Wilhelm At Home:

His Private Life Is Simple but Nevertheless Extravagant 

Not that the German Emperor would be common-place anywhere. His mysterious outbursts of rage, his officially contradicted illness or illnesses, and his genius for self-advertisement would bring him into notice wherever he was. But, though we hear so much about his life for show in public, few people know how simple his private life is. 

But it is a fact that a great deal of the solemn etiquette of the ordinary court life has been done away with, the staff reduced in several ways, and there have even been economies in the kitchen. The officers of the guard have to put up with beer instead of champagne. It is true the menu at the Emperor's table must be in German now, not French, but the aristocracy generally have not followed suit. 

There are things even a German Emperor cannot do. But anyone who sees the royal palace, knows that the stories of extravagance are true. Restoring it was the work of three months, and everything that the best of science and art, and the taxpayers' money could do, was done. Those three months turned out a palace that eclipses in splendor almost any other in the world. 

The apartments that the present Emperor uses are those between the "Pillar hall" and the "Star hall," or "Star chamber," whichever we would call it in English, only in this case the stars are in the ceiling. But perhaps the most magnificent is the front hall, the Treppen halle, which faces the Palace square. 

A view can be had without opening the doors, for they are each of one immense pane of glass, and even in the daytime the white and gray marble covering the walls is effective. At night it is a marvelous sight, the electric light flooding the hall, the marble balustrades and the red carpet on the marble steps. You pass down these, betwen colossal mirrors on either hand, and the Star hall is directly in front. It is here the regimental colors are used as ornaments for the walls, on a background of red damask. 

The panelling is done in rich rococo work. The Emperor's and Empress' private apartments are near the Pillar hall, which also faces the Palace square. There are a private entrance and a public one, for deputations and so on. One gets as good an idea of the general extravagance from the Emperor's workshop, or study, as anywhere else. 

True, there are the writing table, the leathercovered furniture and tho book shelves, but the ceiling is in splendid white-and-gold rococo work—done in Frederick the Great's time—and improvements have been made in the same style and color. 

The walls are in dark olive and gold brocade. The Empress' private rooms are also very fine. Her reception room has more of the immense mirrors, and the walls are panelled in greenish-gray marble. Yet she herself is the ordinary German hausfrau, and is what she has been from her girlhood—a nonenity. 

All these apartments have been lying unused for many years—since the time of Friedrich Wilhelm III, in fact. The court life in public resembles that of most other countries: the dinner is the most noticeable difference. It lasts barely three-quarters of an hour; courses come and go like lightning, and, as at Napoleon's table, a man who gives too much time to talking may find himself extremely hungry when it is over. 

One of the great entertainments is the time-honored ball at the end of the carnival, where as many as 1200 guests have been invited. The waltz is the principal dance, and the minuet was lately introduced. The Emperor and Empress just join in one quadrille, but the ball is for them more of a big reception; they make their rounds of the guests in the "White Hall" before dancing begins.—Westminster Gazette, 1897

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Royal Etiquette and Lesser Nobles

A dynasty of former princes, electors, kings, and emperors made up the House of Hohenzollern of Prussia, Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, the German Empire, and Romania. The family arose in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century and took their name from Hohenzollern Castle.

Royal Court Etiquette Rules

It has not escaped public notice that the Marquis of Lorn and his wife, the sister of the Duke of Edinburgh, were not present at the Duke's marriage with the daughter of the Czar. A Paris paper has volunteered to give the cause of this seeming want of affection; 

It says the court etiquette on the continent excludes any one not royal by blood from sitting at the same table with royalty. Lorn is a noble of as honorable lineage as the Guelphs, and far more ancient than the Romanoffs or the Hohenzollerns, whose ancestors were low-bred kerns running about the woods and swamps of Scandinavia and Germany, dressed in the hairy skins of wild, beasts, for centuries after the house of Argyle was noble and powerful. 

But the Argyles never had the luck to be crowned, and therefore they can't mate on terms of equality with the Romanoffs, Hohenzollerns and Hapsburgs, nor eat at the same table. The Princess Louisa, wife of the Marquis of Lorn, was once obliged to witness this degredation of her husband at the Court of Berlin when she was visiting her sister, the Crown Princess of Prussia, and she then made up her mind not to subject him again to such an insult. This is the explanation of the absence ot Lorn and his lady from the late St. Petersburg wedding. — From The Sacramento Union, 1874

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Kaiser's New Dance Etiquette

The city palace in Berlin was the Prussian royal palace 

Emperor Wilhelm's New Dance Rules

At the court ball in Berlin lately the Kaiser brought in two innovations —first, that the court quadrille is to return as much as possible to the old French quadrille, instead of the modernized dance which has lately taken its place; also that the Kaiser's new ruling as to etiquette in round dance is an improvement.

The Kaiser gave out that in future at court balls, what is known as visiting will be given up.

"Visiting," to explain to those who do not know what it means, is a German practice of one man, having several partners in the same dance. This is an easy way for a man to get through a deal of formal civility, but is a death blow to sociability, and the ladies are pleased.

The visiting card of Kaiser Wilhelm. The German text reads, "Wilhelm, Deutscher Kaiser u. König von Preußen" (translation: "William, German Emperor and King of Prussia"). — Visiting or calling cards, were small paper cards with one's name printed on them, and often bearing an artistic design. In 18th C. Europe, the footmen of aristocrats and royalty would deliver these first European visiting cards to the servants of their prospective hosts solemnly introducing the arrival of their owners. They were the forerunners of today's business cards.

The scene around the throne was brilliant. The ball opened with the valse "La Gitanella," by Morena, the band of the Fusilier guards playing. The dancing card was a very pretty thing in old French style, with Watteau figures and the imperial arms on top. The dancing took place in front of the throne. Count Baudessen of the Life guards was leader of the ball, opening it with the chief lady of the court Countess Stolberg Werigerode.

Next came Count Bernstoff, with Countess Irma Kanitz. In a lovely toilet of white with silver embroidery. One of the toilettes much remarked on was that of Countess Stolberg. It was a ball dress of white satin, with pink roses, very simple but beautifully made.

A feature of the evening was the favorite dance of the Kaiser's, a dance which he has sought very hard to popularize, and what is known as "The Queen's Minuet." Six pairs were in each. set. In the set nearest the throne were Count Bernstoff. Countess Stolberg, Count Baudessen and Countess Kanitz. 

The partners of the ladies were solely officers of the guard regiments. Princess Frederick Karli looked well in chamois satin. Princess- Adolph Schaumburg-Lippe wore light blue, many pearls and much lovely lace; Countess von Wedel, one of the best dressed ladies at court, wore salmon satin; Frau von Bulow, yellow silk, trimmed with fur; Countess Schaffgotsch and Baroness Engelbert Furstenburg, pale pink; Baroness von Kreselbeck wore a very beautiful toilet over a white and gold embroidered skirt (she had a brilliant red broad train of dark red roses about her figure); Countess von Groben wore a silver embroidered toilet.—Berlin Letter, 1899

 

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia