The Kaiser and St.Etienne Cathedral

[Peter H]

From the AWM Wartime magazine,March 2008.

Metz..19 November 1919,,Kaiser Wilhelm.of course,had long left,but his visage remained.In 1915,during one of his visits to the battlefields,he had demanded that the statute of the prophet Daniel,at the entrance of St.Etienne Cathedral,be changed to a likeness of himself.After the Armistice,the parish priest took his revenge:with a dog chain,he hung a notice from the stony Kaiser's wrist:"Sic Transit,Gloria Mundi":"Thus passes the glory of the world".

[Mad Zeppelin]

Striking resemblance. However, not in line with Wilhelm's character to have demanded this. May be the master-builder, a German, acted on his own or was influenced by the German community.

[junebaby]

I'm curious as to when the Cathedral was built.Was it a very old one from the Middle Ages, or was in built in more recent times.
It might have been possible to re scupt the face of the statute, but wouldn't that maybe also cause damage to it?
It might be just a coincidnce that the statue's face resembled the Kaiser's and maybe that's how this story got started, and why the priest hung the sign from it.

[Peter H]

Link here,took six centuries to complete(?):

http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/ ... 0in%20Metz

The architect Paul Tornow may have in fact made the face change well before WW1:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Tornow

[Historical Timelines]

Striking resemblance. However, not in line with Wilhelm's character to have demanded this. May be the master-builder, a German, acted on his own or was influenced by the German community.

What do you know about the character of Wilhelm II?
The head was replaced in the late 1870s along with a roof that was burned down during a firework display for Wilhelm II. The head was up in 1918 found in a news clipping.

Wilhelm was laser focused on uniting Europe in spite of Daniels prophecy, and he was extremely antisemitic. Uniting Europe was prophesied by Daniel to never fully happen(iron and clay of Nebuchadnezzar statue) and by removing the head he was making an allusion to Daniels dream and saying that he would do it in spite of what Daniel said.
His religion is listed as Lutheran which would make him a form of Protestant and even if it was a show religion(it appears to be) he would most likely be aware of Daniels prophecy.
In 1898, he visited the Ottoman Empire. He then started excavation projects to bring back artifacts from the region.
In the early 1900s he would bring back the Altar of Pergamon in 1902(Pergamon which is referred to as "Satan's throne" in Rev 2:12-13) and the Ishtar Gate in 1913(Babylon). Those 2 massive items are both in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin still today. Germany spent millions of euros rebuilding those structures. Parts of the altar were taken to Russia as prizes in 1945, but later returned to Berlin in the 1950s remaining on the Russian controlled side of the wall.
1934 Hitler builds the Nazi Rally Grounds modeled after the Altar of Pergamon with ceremonies modeled after the Catholic church and that is where he first mentions the "final solution" in 1935. The AoP was a place for sacrifices.

Also, replacing the head wouldnt involve reworking. They were constructed in sections, and the head was removable.

Im working on an upcoming podcast that touches on this subject so I have been researching a lot in and around Wilhelm II.