Siegburg-Prussia @museum.de

F: The second display case documents Siegburg's civic pride at the height of the Prussian era, after the founding of the German Empire in 1871. It shows Otto von Bismarck, as the man who forged the Reich, and citizens in almost military-style dress. Uniforms dominated the picture, and that certainly included the visit of Kaiser Wilhelm the Second, seen in the large picture. Have you recognised the square? It is the one in front of the church of St. Servatius.

M: But this was also a time of awakening civic engagement, and an emerging culture of clubs and associations. For example, the Germania Male Choir won this splendid cup in a singing competition in 1903! And – their successors are still performing today.

F: The time of the German Reich ended abruptly, with the first of the disasters that were to mark the 20th century – the First World War. Millions of dead in the trenches, millions more falling victim to starvation and hardship on the "home front". In Siegburg as elsewhere, the military defeat led to the revolution of 1918/19.