My Four Years in Germany | Page 4

take
thought of what he shall wear and where he shall live. All other nations
have beautiful Embassies or Legations in Berlin, but I found that my
two immediate predecessors had occupied a villa originally built as a
two-family house, pleasantly enough situated, but two miles from the
centre of Berlin and entirely unsuitable for an Embassy.
There are few private houses in Berlin, most of the people living in
apartments. After some trouble I found a handsome house on the
Wilhelm Platz immediately opposite the Chancellor's palace and the
Foreign Office, in the very centre of Berlin. This house had been built
as a palace for the Princes Hatzfeld and had later passed into the
possession of a banking family named von Schwabach.
The United States Government, unlike other nations, does not own or

pay the rent of a suitable Embassy, but gives allowance for offices, if
the house is large enough to afford office room for the office force of
the Embassy. The von Schwabach palace was nothing but a shell. Even
the gas and electric light fixtures had been removed; and when the hot
water and heating system, bath-rooms, electric lights and fixtures, etc.,
had been put in, and the house furnished from top to bottom, my first
year's salary had far passed the minus point.
The palace was not ready for occupancy until the end of January, 1914,
and, in the meantime, we lived at the Hotel Esplanade, and I transacted
business at the old, two-family villa.
There are more diplomats in Berlin than in any other capital in the
world, because each of the twenty-five States constituting the German
Empire sends a legation to Berlin; even the free cities of Hamburg,
Lübeck and Bremen have a resident minister at the Empire's capital.
Invariable custom requires a new Ambassador in Berlin to give two
receptions, one to the Diplomatic Corps and the other to all those
people who have the right to go to court. These are the officials, nobles
and officers of the army and navy, and such other persons as have been
presented at court. Such people are called _hoffähig_, meaning that
they are fit for court.
[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO
PRESENT HIS LETTERS OF CREDENCE TO THE EMPEROR.]
[Illustration: THE HOUSE ON THE WILHELM PLATZ, RENTED
FOR USE AS THE EMBASSY.]
It is interesting here to note that Jews are not admitted to court. Such
Jews as have been ennobled and allowed to put the coveted "von"
before their names have first of all been required to submit to baptism
in some Christian church. Examples are the von Schwabach family,
whose ancestral house I occupied in Berlin, and Friedlaender-Fuld,
officially rated as the richest man in Berlin, who made a large fortune
in coke and its by-products.

These two receptions are really introductions of an Ambassador to
official and court society.
Before these receptions, however, and in the month of November, I
presented my letters of credence as Ambassador to the Emperor. This
presentation is quite a ceremony. Three coaches were sent for me and
my staff, coaches like that in which Cinderella goes to her ball, mostly
glass, with white wigged coachmen, outriders in white wigs and
standing footmen holding on to the back part of the coach. Baron von
Roeder, introducer of Ambassadors, came for me and accompanied me
in the first coach; the men of the Embassy staff sat in the other two
coaches. Our little procession progressed solemnly through the streets
of Berlin, passing on the way through the centre division of the arch
known as the Brandenburger Thor, the gateway that stands at the head
of the Unter den Linden, a privilege given only on this occasion.
We mounted long stairs in the palace, and in a large room were
received by the aides and the officers of the Emperor's household, of
course all in uniform. Then I was ushered alone into the adjoining room
where the Emperor, very erect and dressed in the black uniform of the
Death's Head Hussars, stood by a table. I made him a little speech, and
presented my letters of credence and the letters of recall of my
predecessor. The Emperor then unbent from his very erect and
impressive attitude and talked with me in a very friendly manner,
especially impressing me with his interest in business and commercial
affairs. I then, in accordance with custom, asked leave to present my
staff. The doors were opened. The staff came in and were presented to
the Emperor, who talked in a very jolly and agreeable way to all of us,
saying that he hoped above all to see the whole of the Embassy staff
riding in the Tier Garten in the mornings.
The Emperor is a most impressive figure, and, in his