KAISER WILHELM II AND KAISERIN AUGUSTA: TWO IMPERIAL GERMAN STANDARDS 1871-1918

PROPERTY OF THOMAS COOK (SOLD BY ORDER OF THE LIQUIDATORS) KAISER WILHELM II AND KAISERIN AUGUSTA: TWO IMPERIAL GERMAN STANDARDS 1871-1918, FROM THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS'S TENTS AT JERSUALEM, 1898 the Kaiser's: a large square golden flag, bearing an Iron Cross, touching the borders, inscribed 'GOTT-MIT- UNS-1870', in each golden quarter three black eagles and a golden crown, the centre bearing a golden shield with black eagle surmounted by a large Imperial crown, bordered with the collar of the black eagle and the hoist inscribed 'Emperor' in faded ink; the Kaiserin's: a large square golden flag, with sixteen black eagles enclosing a central golden shield with black eagle surmounted by a large Imperial crown, bordered with the collar of the black eagle, and the hoist inscribed 'Empress' in faded ink, together with an accompanying typed note 103.5 cm; 40 3/4 x 96.8 cm; 38 1/8 in 108.0 cm; 42 1/2 in x 97.2 cm; 38 1/4 in (2) Provenance Joseph Sheen, private secretary to John Mason Cook The Corporate Collection of Thomas Cook & Sons On 29th October 1898 the Emperor and Empress of Prussia arrived in Jerusalem along with their entourage and were greeted by a twenty-one gun salute. The timing was planned to coincide with the German Reformation day on 31st October and considerable effort had been made to prepare the city for their visit. Six months earlier the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II had replaced the governor with an energetic officer from his court who oversaw plans. A number of renovations were carried out as well as the demolition of a section of wall near the Jaffa gate and the filling up of the moat to accommodate the Imperial entourage. The German and Ottoman Imperial courts commissioned Thomas Cook & Son to manage the Imperial journey. This included building an encampment outside the city walls with seventy five residential tents, six hospitality tents and six fully equipped kitchen tents along with several prefabricated buildings sent from Germany. The tents were comfortably appointed with furniture, carpets and fittings lent by local families. The present flags were flown above the tents of the Kaiser and Kaiserin.