Kaiserturm and St. Cecilia @museum.de

The spiral staircase inside the Kaiserturm led up to the dormitories used by the girls who attended the Heiligengrabe boarding school between 1847 and 1945.

But they probably didn’t sound anything like that! Strict discipline was maintained, and the girls, who were members of the Prussian nobility, were raised to be "the Kaiser’s female cadets".

For the inauguration of the tower, which he had personally funded, the Emperor presented the girls with an elaborately decorated tile from the imperial majolica workshops in Cadinen, in East Prussia, now Kadyny in Poland. It’s in the Renaissance style and shows Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music and song. If you open the door to the Imperial Tower, you’ll have a chance to see this beautiful picture tile.

Abbess Adolphine von Rohr offered the Emperor the community’s most humble gratitude for his gift:

"Most Sublime Emperor and King, Most Gracious, Most Mighty Emperor, King and Lord. [...] How beautiful is the tile in the stair tower [...]. We had just opened the crate from Cadinen [...] when one of the children passed by, having again been admonished for the tomboyish manner she often displays, and for neglecting the beautiful, noble form that no woman, let alone a noblewoman, must ever violate. – I called upon her to approach, showed her the tile, and said, 'This is first and foremost a gift from his Majesty to you, the children who use the new stairs almost hourly. It is the King’s way of sending a message to his female cadets.' [...]

Then, when I asked, 'Have you understood your King?" she nodded gently and kissed my hand. – Upon occasion, of that I am certain, the image will speak in its silent and yet eloquent language, and quite apart from the external beauty it demonstrates, assist in awakening inner beauty."

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Zitiert nach Romeyke, 2009, S. 92.