33 - 1910: In Berlin with Kaiser Wilhelm II

Summary

In 1910, I went to Berlin. Our ambassador, Jules Cambon, had organized an exhibition of eighteenth-century French art. Kaiser Wilhelm II had taken a keen interest in it, for he had canvases in Potsdam [at Sans Souci] by Watteau, Fragonard, etc., the authenticity of which he questioned. We initiated a project of exchange between a work of art belonging to him and the restoration of the château sculptures through our colleague Maurice Fenaille. This exhibition was of great interest to the Germans and several exchange agreements with the sovereign to complete his collections or ours were drawn up at that time.

We spent ten days in Berlin and remained in constant contact with the Emperor, who had given his Grand Cordon of the Black Eagle to Léon Bonnat. I was then a member of the Berlin Academy, but not yet that of France. The Emperor came every day, and all day long he hosted us throughout the capital. This is how, with [Louis Bernier]—architect of the Opéra-Comique—he took us to the theater and showed us the old machinery, saying: “We have to rebuild it, but we can't do it without breaking a leg. I’m looking for my minister of finance, but he is never there!”

On Sundays at that time, during the season, people met in Potsdam at the home of [Sophie,] the Princess of Wied. She presided over the most artistic gatherings there, from which protocol was banished. Thus, one day the Empress of Germany was silenced while Lili Lehmann was singing: “Be quiet, she's singing!” they shouted at her. After Lehmann's song, I was quite dazzled by the entrance of a very beautiful young woman with golden hair. I asked who she was, and was told: “She is the niece of Edward VII.” She [Sophie] had married a German staff officer, [Wilhelm,] the Prince of Wied, who had a small German principality [Albania] and was the nephew of Carmen Sylva [Elisabeth of Wied], the Queen of Romania. It was she who was named “queen with an unhappy reign.” I’m referring to [Princess] Maria.

For the first time since 1870, and in fact the only time, an official dinner for one hundred guests at intimate tables was given at the French Embassy in honor of the Berlin court. We had brought in some famous characters from the Comédie-Française.