Description
The pageantry afforded to House of Hohenzollern members was on par with other royal European houses. As with England, the naval tradition was very important to Wilhelm II. He spent lavishly on his fleet in an effort to match the British Royal Navy. Kaiser Wilhelm II was a Großadmiral in the Kaiserliche Marine, as was his brother, Prinz Heinrich. Both men had a son who served in the Navy (Prinz Adalbert and Prinz Sigismund, respectively). Traditionally, when a prinz was aboard a vessel, the ship raised a special flag signifying his presence. We currently are offering a large banner that was flown aboard battleships when a prinz was aboard. Today we are offering something even more unusual. It is a pairing of a photograph, and a flag that was flown from a small pleasure craft on the Wannsee in Berlin. The photograph comes from a photographic studio in Berlin. It measures 6″ x 7 3/4.” It depicts a small pleasure craft, which I estimate to be 45′ to 55′ in length. Flying from its stern is the very flag we are offering today! It measures 59 1/2″ x 39.” In its center is a Hohenzollern Eagle. An Iron Cross is in the corner. The flag is swallow-tailed. It is made of a light-cotton material that is gauzy in appearance. Some light mothing shows in a few places, but the flag remains in very good condition.
