Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Prince Henry

Mark's college was officially called 'Prince Henry Institute'. There were portraits of two princes in the main entrance hall, both named Henry - a (fictitious) Medieval ruler and Prince of Prussia, Kaiser Wilhelm's younger brother. A career naval officer who held various commands and eventually rose to the highest rank in the Imperial Navy, Prince Henry (Prinz Albert Wilhelm Heinrich von Preußen) had a multitude of modern hobbies. He received one of the first pilot’s licenses in Germany, promoted motor sports and was also an avid yachtsman, becoming one of the first members of the "Marine-Regatta-Verein" (Navy Regatta Union).
According to the plot, Prince Henry of Prussia visited the institute in 1911, two years after his retirement from the Navy. In the 1880s image above he's a Korvettenkapitän (Commander), still a long way to go to the High Seas Fleet command. And below, we see him wearing a Großadmiral's insignia:
 
Слева – принц Генрих, князь-просветитель, друг ученых и художников, в честь которого назвали это учебное заведение, не особо задумываясь над тем, что в хрониках XV века его имя связано как минимум с тремя премерзкими историями. Справа – другой принц Генрих, брат кайзера Вильгельма и гросс-адмирал германского флота, осчастлививший институт визитом в год открытия. А дата основания – 4 мая 1911 года – была выбита на мраморной доске вместе с изречением Цицерона: "Assiduus usus uni rei deditus et ingenium et artem saepe vincit".

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