Kasier's visit – around 1910

His Majesty the Kaiser was in the picture. Wilhelm II was the media star of his time, mostly as commander-in-chief wearing the uniform of various regiments. He enjoyed posing as the commander. He deliberately stage-managed his appearance in films and photographs. He regularly had himself photographed at military parades and manoeuvres. His countless travels through the country and abroad served his self-portrayal, marching along with tremendous bombast. He liked to visit the Rhineland, especially Bonn, where he had studied. Huge triumphal arches adorned his staged appearances. In the Catholic Rhineland such arches were otherwise only set up for church dignitaries. The Kaiser's restlessness, volatility and hectic nature spread to the nation's foreign policy.

Bismarck gave his opinion shortly after his dismissal:
"I am pessimistic about the future; I am not so worried about social conditions as about foreign powers, who can attack us all at once… The terribly dangerous thing about the Kaiser is that he is never open to anyone's influence, that he puts everything into action immediately, which means an end to any continuity."
(Bismarck am 5. März 1891 gegenüber Baronin Spitzemberg, in: Treue, Wilhelm [Hrsg.]: Drei deutsche Kaiser. Wilhelm I. – Friedrich III. – Wilhelm II.; ihr Leben und ihre Zeit 1858-1918, Freiburg 1987, S.138.)

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