3-074-589 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Unveiling the German National Monument at Rüdesheim: the Great Tun in the main street, 1883. 'The grand ceremony of dedicating the statue of "Germania," the National Monument to commemorate the victories of 1870 and 1871 [ie the Franco-Prussian War], and the establishment of the German Empire, was performed by the Emperor, King William [Wilhelm] I. of Prussia, on Friday last week...The ceremony...was very imposing. A hundred thousand persons were assembled from all parts of Germany...Our Illustrations are from Sketches by Mr J. Dinsdale, the artist who attended the ceremony on behalf of this Journal. One of them represents a conspicuous feature of the festive procession in the street of Rüdesheim. The wine of that place has great celebrity among the finest Rhenish vintages; and Rüdesheim, like Heidelberg, has its monster "Tun," in which the inhabitants take much pride'. From "Illustrated London News", 1883.