Dietrich also followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the Igel fraternity. The Igels had come into existence in 1871, the same year as the German Reich. It was then, following France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, that Prussia had led the way in uniting the twenty-five states of Germany. They became a federation called the German Empire, and for the nearly fifty years of its existence this Reich was led by Prussia and the Hohenzollern dynasty. The first German emperor was Wilhelm I, king of Prussia.
