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Nashua Telegraph
Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S.A. 21 March 1933 page 7 |
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MILITANT GERMANY AT CEREMONIAL Kaiser’s Chair Vacant At Opening Of Reichstag –A new militant Germany, ani- mated by the old Prussian military spirit, was proclaimed in an im- pressive Reichstag opening cere- mony today in the Garrison church where President Von Hindenburg and Chancellor Adolf Hitler were the chief figures. The Reichstag was meeting for the first time since the elections of March 5. Other meeting places were used because the Reichstag building was badly damaged in a fire a few days before the elections. Wilhelm II was left synbolically vacant in the royal box occupied by the Hohenzollern princes. Nationalist Germany’s apprecia- tion of the imperial past of the country became evident in double- salutes at the beginning and end of the exercises given by the pres- ident with his field marshal’s baton to the Crown Prince and other members of the former imperial family. < The church was filled with mem- |
bers of the Reichstag, the diplo-
matic corps, generals and admirals who served in the World War and veterans of wars dating as far back as 1864. The assembly stood reverently as the president read his brief ad- dress without spectacles from a manuscript written by hand in big black letters. “Weighty and manifold duties await you,” the president said. “I know the chancellor and cabinet face with determination the diffi- cult problems to be solved at home and abroad. I hope the mem- bers of the new Reichstag place themselves loyally behind the gov- ernment.” Discussing imperial Germany, the former field marshall said: “The place where we stand re- calls older Prussia, which became great through fear of God, devo- tion to duty, unflagging courage and self-denying patriotism. In marked contrast to the presi- dent’s martial figure was Chancel- lor Hitler, dressed in a cutaway coat displaying the iron cross and the Nazi swastika emblem. Nazi members of the Reichstag, however, were in uniform. Only a few feet away in pews oc- cupied by members of the Centrist party sat former Chancellor Hein- rich Brunening, who appeared pallid and sad. Otherwise the Centrist delegates sat impassive. The Socialist members did not appear. |