Cart with opulent imagery “carrettu sicilianu”

Emperor Wilhelm II brought this ostentatious version of a colourful cart typical for Sicily back with him from a journey to the island. For a long time it was kept in the Roman baths of Sanssouci Park in Potsdam, until being handed over to the European department of the Museum of Ethnology by the Administration of State-Owned Palaces and Gardens in 1937.The donkey-drawn two-wheeled carretti remained in use as a means of transport in Sicily and large parts of the Mediterranean until the mid-19th century, but today they have been consigned to folklore and miniaturized into small souvenirs, while the historic original carts are shown in pageants and museums in Sicily.