ABSTRACT
Ernst von Wildenbruch has a place among the Hohenzollerns as the bard and singer of that fallen dynasty whose rise and fame he celebrated in some plays, and as claiming direct affinity of blood through his descent from one of the most brilliant sons of the race, Prince Louis Ferdinand. Like Geibel, who in the capacity of private tutor had trodden the hallowed ground of Attica, young Wildenbruch was deeply impressed by the land and city of Theseus, though naturally to a lesser degree than Geibel. Young Wildenbruch set out for Berlin as a law student, taking with him two trunks, one entirely filled with manuscript, and took up his abode not in any of the Hohenzollern palaces but in modest student apartments in the Mohrenstrasse. In 1860 Wildenbruch was promoted to the Cadet College in Berlin, and three years later became a second lieutenant in the first regiment of Guards in Potsdam.
