THERE SHE BLOWS! S6 VISITS BERLIN

Today in Berlin: March 31, 1891

At 2 PM on March 31, 1891 - a day as unpleasant weather-wise as early spring in Berlin only could be (snow, sleet, piercing cold) - Kaiser Wilhelm II boarded his Kaiserzug - special imperial train - to go to Potsdam. The trip was, however, just a prelude for a far more exciting journey: a cruise on board of a German torpedo boat.

View down the Kupfergraben with the street Am Kupfergraben left (with Artillerie Kaserneout out of the view). On the right the Neuer Packhof (Berlin’s goods storage or warehouse), which would be demolished. Unrecognisable today, the site is part of Berlin’s Museuminsel with its numerous museums.

With the moustachioed emperor safely on board, the “S6”, one of six small torpedo vessels built in the early 1880s, set off to Berlin, where it dropped the anchor next to Am Kupfergraben, in a side canal of the river Spree and right in front of the Artillery Barracks.