University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China reference number: Kn01-144. This photograph is of a paper or canvas tower put up at Shanghai Racecourse, for a bonfire to celebrate the end of the First World War. Painted on the tower: HOUSE OF HOHENZOLLERN, the Hohenzollern coat of arms and Chinese characters. The 'Iron Cross medal' hanging on the tower is inscribed: NOT FOR VALOUR, FOR RAPE LIES MURDER THEFT. The 'House of Hohenzollern' was the German/Prussian imperial royal dynasty. Caricatures of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, and a dachshund (as a symbol of 'Kultur') and others were hanged from the gibbets. The edifice was set alight by the Belgian Consul General after a torchlight parade on 23 November 1918. An 'immense crowd' had gathered to watch, including many Germans (North China Daily News, 25 November 1918, p. 8).
