Following my usual bent, I did not call at Koenigergratzerstrasse 70
as the Captain suggested. About three days passed and then I received
a very courteously worded letter requesting me to call at my earliest
convenience at his quarters as he had something of importance to tell
me. I called.
Koenigergratzerstrasse 70 is a typical Prussian building of
administration. Solid but unpretentious, it is the very embodiment of
Prussian efficiency, and like all official buildings in Germany is
well guarded. The doorkeeper and commissaire, a taciturn
non-commissioned officer, takes your name and whom you wish to see.
He enters these later in a book, then telephones to the person
required and you are either ushered up or denied admittance. When
sent up, you are invariably accompanied by an orderly--it does not
matter how well you are known--who does not leave you until the door
has closed behind you. When you leave, there is the same procedure
and the very duration of your visit is entered and checked in the
doorkeeper's book.
I was admitted immediately. After passing through three anterooms
containing private secretaries not in uniform, I was shown into
Captain von Tappken's private office. He wore the undress ranking
uniform of the Imperial Navy. This is significant, for it is
characteristic of all the branches of the Prussian Service to find
officers in charge.
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