3-046-940 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

German military band on the Promenade at Rheims, 1872. 'The vast sum of money put into the hands of the French Provisional Government by the result of the great loan will pay off the remainder of the heavy fine imposed upon that country by the Germans, and free its soil from the foreign military occupation in the course of next year. The gradual withdrawal of the German troops from some of the departments where they were quartered after the conclusion of the [Franco-Prussian] war has been felt as a relief to the feelings of the local population...The German regimental bands of music performed on certain days in the shady alleys of the public walk near the railway station, but were refused permission by the municipality to take their stand in the kiosk or pavilion, where, in happier times, a French orchestra was often placed, whose popular strains of melody invited the lively dance. None but the lowest of the people in Rheims would attend on the German musicians, whose audience consisted chiefly of the German officers and soldiers'. From "Illustrated London News", 1872.