Under his powerful will and protection, and in the hands of tried Netherlanders, the Admiral Raule and his brother, the Brandenburg fleet flourished. Only after the death of the Elector did his creation fall to decay. They were not destined to harvest the fruits of their labor. His successors in power had first to establish through battles their rights, in order to have a voice in the world and to be allowed to rule, undisturbed and in peace, the people within their borders. As a result, our eyes were turned from the sea again in order that after centuries of fierce conflict the mark and Prussia might finally be welded together.
Thus, through the guidance of God and through the labors of the successors of the Great Elector, the power of his house was founded on that firm foundation and with the corner-stone which he had laid. It was this princely power that made it possible for the house of Hohenzollern to take up the German imperial dignity. They founded that dynastic power which the German Emperor must have in order to be in a position to care for and protect powerfully the welfare of the empire everywhere and to force its opponents to respect its flag.
His monument now stands before the academy. That younger generation to whom the future belongs, which is to cultivate the seeds that we have sown and to reap the harvest of our labors, may now direct its gaze toward this prince and be edified by his example.
He was God-fearing and stern, inflexibly stern toward himself and toward others; he trusted firmly in God and allowed God to direct him, undismayed by any reverse or by any disappointment; as a Christian, he looked upon these merely as trials sent him from on high. In this way the Great Elector lived his life, and this is the example which we are to follow. The motto which made it possible for him never to lose his hope and courage, in spite of all vexations, in spite of all reverses and all grievous experiences and trials, was the red thread which ran through his life and which is expressed in his phrase: “Domine, fac me scire viam, quam ambulem.”
May this be true also of the officers and crews of my navy! So long as we work on this basis we can overcome, undismayed, every grievous phase in the development of the navy and of our Fatherland which God’s providence may have in store for us. Let that be the way that you shall go! Let that be the foundation on which my navy is built up! This will enable you to conquer in battle and to endure all vexations until the sun again breaks forth from the clouds.
I therefore turn over this new monument to the navy. May she protect, cherish, and honor it, so that in the future she may develop characters which are like his who now stands before her! Let the monument be unveiled!
[ENTRANCE OF PRINCE EITEL FRIEDRICH INTO THE ARMY]
July 7, 1901
The second son of the Emperor took up his service in the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Guard on the completion of his eighteenth year. On this occasion, in the presence of many princes, officers of the army, and military attachés, the Emperor turned over his son to the regiment with the following words: