PRUSSIA’S CENOTAPH

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 18 June 1931, Page 8

PRUSSIA’S CENOTAPH

UNVEILING CEREMONY

LONDON, sth June

Prussia’s cenotaph, a plain sft block of black granite from Sweden, was unveiled as a salute of 101 guns was fired and 54 colours of the old Army were dipped by a guard of honour. lu his speech marking the unveiling the Prussion Premier, llerr Braun, says lie Berlin correspondent of “The Times,” declared dial the beaten gold superimposed on the curling silver leaves of the wreath on the cenotaph, was symbolical of the Prussian desire to commemorate fully ail Germany’s dead. The gold melted down, lie revealed, iiad been from Prussian decorations that belonged to pre-war generations. President von Hindenburg, wearing an old uniform, and pikelhaube, in three simple sentences, made a renewed appeal for unity which, he said, was the’ best way to show gratitude to the herons who had once fought shoulder to shoulder until death.. The cenotaph is in what was formerly ail old guardhouse close to the Royal Palace. The exterior remains, untouched while the interior has been converted into a simple memorial hall. It is a hare chamber with an opening in the roof allowing the sun, rain and snow to enter.