PRUSSIA’S CENOTAPH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21362, 16 June 1931, Page 7

PRUSSIA’S CENOTAPH

UNVEILING CEREMONY WAR DEAD REMEMBERED. LONDON, June 5. Prussia's Cenotaph, a plain sft block of black granite from Sweden, was unveiled to-day as a salute of 101 guns was fired and 54 colours of the old army were dipped by a guard of honour, says the Berlin correspondent of The Times. In. his speech marking the unveiling, the Prussian Premier, Herr Braun, declared that the beaten gold super-imposed on the curling silver leaves of the wreath on the Cenotaph was symbolical of the Prussian desire to commemorate, fully all Germany’s dead. The gold melted down was procured from Prussian decorations which had belonged to pre-war generations. President 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 heroes who had once fought shoulder to shoulder until death. The Cenotaph is in what formerly was an old guardhouse close to the Royal Palace. The exterior remains untouched and the interior has been converted into a simple memorial hall. It is a bare chamber-with an opening in the roof to allow the sun, rain, and snow to enter.