opening of the Centennial Hall, Centennial Exhibition (1913)Centennial Hall
On 20 May 1913, the Hall was ceremonially opened and the spectacular Centennial Exhibition was inaugurated. The Lord Mayor of Breslau, Paul Matting, gave a patriotic speech that he called: “a monument to the liberation of the homeland and warning future generations”
opening of the Centennial Hall, Centennial Exhibition (1913)Centennial Hall
Nearly 6000 guests listened to the fervent speech, who could experience for themselves the excellent acoustics of the Hall.
Crown Prince Frederick William and his wife during the opening ceremony of the Centennial Exhibition. (1913)Centennial Hall
Emperor and King William II of Prussia did not attend this celebration, but this militant monarch was offended by the celebration of the Exhibition of Proclamation (appeal To my People) and not the anniversary of the victorious Battle of Leipzig.
Centennial Hall opening, Centennial Exhibition (1913)Centennial Hall
He took his wife with him and brought many eminent colleagues, including Prince Ernst Günther zu Schleswig Holstein. The remaining seats were taken by prominent figures from Breslau and all of Schlesien.
interior, organs in Centennial Hall (1913)Centennial Hall
Melody of the modern times
What a wonderful and overturn concept it was that in the inside of the Hall there were echoing not avant-garde instruments based on Lee De Forest’s vacuum tubes, but the sounds of pipe organs worthy of the most eminent Bach’s Baroque compositions.
Centennial Hall interior, view of the organ (1913)Centennial Hall
It will therefore come as no surprise that the organ, designed and produced by the Sauer company (still existing) in Frankfurt with 222 registers and 16706 pipes was the largest in the world at the time.
During the Second World War the instrument was unfortunately partly destroyed and stolen. The surviving elements can still be heard in the interiors of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Ostrów Tumski in Wrocław and in the Jasna Góra Monastery.
