For kings and governments may err But never Mr. Baedeker.
A. P. Herbert
At the stroke of noon one day, as the imperial military band began its daily concert in front of Berlin's imperial palace, Kaiser Wilhelm interrupted a conference of state by jumping to his feet. "With your kind forbearance, gentlemen," he said, "I must excuse myself now to appear in the window. You see. it says in Baedeker that at this hour I always do."
For more than a century, kings, governments and hotelkeepers did their best to live up to Mr. Baedeker; so did millions of tourists who followed...