Will you allow me first, with a heart deeply moved, to perform the duty of a son and thank you sincerely for having transmitted to me the wish of your countrymen that I should participate in this festive day and be present at the unveiling of the unique and splendid statue which the free Hanseatic city of Bremen has erected to my father? I can assure you that it stirred me deeply to-day as my eye wandered over the masses of people to think that the former Prussian Crown Prince, subsequently the first Crown Prince of the German Empire, and, finally, second Hohenzollern Emperor, should be fêted in a free German city just as though this were his home. It is a proof that his figure, as well as that of his great and illustrious father, has become a common possession of the entire German people. I sincerely thank the city of Bremen that it has honored my father and his memory in such a magnificent manner. You have created a work of art, the like of which is not often seen in German lands. And I am convinced that in later generations his powerful personality, which will have become surrounded by the glamour of legend, will through this statue be brought nearer to the hearts of the people. And I am sure that the generations of Bremen which are to follow, from father to son, will never forget the second Emperor, whose noble Siegfried figure led the German army to victory and whom we have to thank for our unity. And so, now, beautiful statues of both my father and my grandfather stand in this loyal German city and furnish mile-stones for the history of our Fatherland as well as for the city of Bremen. Truly, the historical retrospect which you have been good enough to present us shows magnificently the leadership of God and the grace which Providence has bestowed upon our people and our country. The portion of time which is represented by both of these two noble leaders who stand here in bronze has, like a foundation-stone, been firmly laid in history. It remains for later times and their generations to build upon the foundation which these great rulers have set down. You have had the goodness to express the thoughts which stirred you upon a former occasion in this same place. They correspond entirely to what I myself thought at that time. When, as a lad, I stood before the model of the Brommy[40] ship, I bitterly felt the disgrace which our fleet and our flag had been forced to suffer. And perhaps, since on my mother's side a bit of sea blood flowed into my veins, this was the thing which was to give me my cue for the manner in which I would envisage the tasks which henceforth were to confront the empire.