A program for the serivce in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kaiser Wilhelm, held in the synagogue in Wandsbek on March 21, 1897 (the 17th of Adar II, 5657).The program for the evening began with the choir singing Barukh ha-ba - [blessed is he who comes], Hallelu [all people should praise G-d] and Zeh Ha Yom [this is the day that G-d made, let us rejoice and be happy in it]. This was followed by the recitation of Psalm 21, and Psalm 72 . The choir then sang Psalm 24, and the conclusion is a prayer for Kaiser Wilhelm II -- Psalm 150. All songs and readings are given in both Hebrew and German.

William I ( Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig) (March 22, 1797 – March 9, 1888) of the House of Hohenzollern was a King of Prussia (January 2, 1861 – 9 March 1888) and the first German Emperor (18 January 1871 – 9 March 1888). Under the leadership of William and his prime minister Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the establishment of the German Empire.

The future king and emperor was born William Frederick Louis of Prussia in Berlin. As the second son of King Frederick William III and Queen Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, William was not expected to ascend to the throne and hence received little education. William served in the army from 1814 onward, fought against Napoleon I of France during the Napoleonic Wars, and was reportedly a very brave soldier. He also became an excellent diplomat by engaging in diplomatic missions after 1815.

During the Revolutions of 1848, William successfully crushed a revolt that was aimed at his elder brother King Frederick William IV. The use of cannons made him unpopular at the time and earned him the nickname Kartätschenprinz (Prince of Grapeshot).

In 1857 Frederick William IV suffered a stroke and became mentally disabled for the rest of his life. In January 1858 William became Prince Regent for his brother. On January 2, 1861 Frederick William died and William ascended the throne as William I of Prussia. He inherited a conflict between Frederick William and the liberal parliament. He was considered a politically neutral person as he intervened less in politics than his brother. William nevertheless found a conservative solution for the conflict: he appointed Otto von Bismarck to the office of Prime Minister. According to the Prussian constitution, the Prime Minister was responsible solely to the king, not to parliament. Bismarck liked to see his work relationship with William as that of a vassal to his feudal superior. Nonetheless it was Bismarck who effectively directed the politics, interior as well as foreign; on several occasions he gained William's assent by threatening to resign.

William I was crowned German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, France.In the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War William was proclaimed German Emperor on January 18, 1871 in Versailles Palace. The title "German Emperor" was carefully chosen by Bismarck after discussion until (and after) the day of the proclamation. William accepted this title grudgingly as he would have preferred "Emperor of Germany" which, however, was unacceptable to the federated monarchs, and would also have signalled a claim to lands outside of his reign (Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg etc.). The title "Emperor of the Germans", as proposed in 1848, was ruled out from the start anyway, as he considered himself chosen "by the grace of God", not by the people as in a democratic republic.

In May 11, 1878, Max Hödel failed in an assassination attempt on William in Berlin. A second attempt was made on June 2, 1878, by the anarchist Karl Nobiling, who wounded William before committing suicide. These attempts became the pretext for the institution of the Anti-Socialist Law, which was introduced by Bismarck’s government with the support of a majority in the Reichstag in October 18, 1878, for the purpose of fighting the socialist and working-class movement. The laws deprived the Social Democratic Party of Germany of its legal status; they prohibited all organizations, workers’ mass organizations and the socialist and workers’ press, decreed confiscation of socialist literature, and subjected Social-Democrats to reprisals. The laws were extended every 2-3 years. Despite this policy of reprisals the Social Democratic Party increased its influence among the masses. Under pressure of the mass working-class movement the laws were repealed on October 1, 1890.

In his memoirs, Bismarck describes William as an old-fashioned, courteous, infallibly polite gentleman and a genuine Prussian officer, whose good common sense was occasionally undermined by "female influences".