The picture shows an unknown speaker on the steps of the Kronprinzenpalais. Shortly before in front of the Reichstag, Philipp Scheidemann proclaims the republic. He concludes his speech with the words, “The old and rotten, the monarchy has collapsed. The new may live. Long live the German Republic!” On the same day, Karl Liebknecht proclaims the socialist republic at the Kaiser’s palace in Berlin, with the words “The rule of capitalism, which has turned Europe into a cemetery, is broken.” Most German scholars stand stunned before the rubble of the Wilhelminian epoch.