“At the commencement of the mobilization the railway time-tables in force were cancelled; railway traffic ceased, and only slow local-trains ran, stopping at every station to pick up the men.  During the nights a gigantic transport of troops went on to the frontiers.  From that moment the sale of alcohol on the stations was prohibited.  The publication of news concerning troop movements was suppressed, in order to veil our objective and to keep secret our strength on the various frontiers.

“The trains in the Tyrol were decked with wreaths and flowers.  They bore Germans from the most southerly corners of our neutral ally—­Italy.  Members of the Wehrkraftverein (Boy Scouts) inspected the trains at every station, and it is said that a Serb was found bound fast underneath one of the carriages.  Serbian scoundrels were found on all sides; if one of them had succeeded in destroying the Brenner line the whole plan of mobilization would have been disturbed.  Therefore sentinels were placed along the whole line and strong guards protected every tunnel.  At night all lights were put out and those on the engines covered up; even the stations were not illuminated—­everywhere darkness.

“Slowly feeling its way, the train crept over the Brenner—­it took twelve hours; in Innsbruck the station was crowded with Germans to welcome the warriors, and the ancient hills echoed again and again the ‘Wacht am Rhein.’  The solemnity which had marked the first days in Munich had given place to boisterous joy.  Thousands of men in mountain costume had flocked into Munich to offer themselves as volunteers, and the streets and station rang with their jodeln! (the peculiar cry of Alpine herdsmen).

“Outside the station lay vast quantities of materials for the Flying Corps, and innumerable motor-cars.  A regiment of artillery was just leaving, while a band was in the centre of the station; the rhythm of the kettle-drums rolled mightily, and the music clashed in the huge central hall; thousands of voices joined in, then helmets, hats, caps, rifles and swords were waved and the train moved off amid shouts:  ’Go for them!  Cut them down!’ (’Drauf auf die Kerle!  Haut sie zusammen!’)"[29]

[Footnote 29:  Colonel Frobenius:  “Durch Not und Tod” ("Through Distress and Death").  Leipzig, 1915, p. 12 et seq.]

“If I live to be a hundred I shall never forget these days.  They are the greatest in our history.  We never dreamed that anything so overwhelming could be experienced on earth.  Only three weeks ago and we should have been quite incapable of imagining its like.  The feeling that we have experienced something overpowering, something which we cannot utter, overwhelms us all.  We see it in each other’s faces and feel it in the pressure of a hand.  Words are too weak, so each is silent about what he feels.  We are conscious of one thing alone:  Germany’s heart has appeared to us!