This pencil sketch by the Prussian court painter Anton von Werner (1843–1915) shows Kaiser Wilhelm I (1797–1888) on his deathbed. The note at bottom right indicates that it was sketched in the royal palace at 9 o’clock in the morning on March 9, 1888, half an hour after the emperor’s death. Wilhelm’s son, Kaiser Friedrich III, lived for just ninety-nine days (March 9, 1888–June 15, 1888) after succeeding his father on the Prussian and German thrones, and he in turn was succeeded by Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled until November 1918. To contemporary Germans and to later historians, 1888 was “the year of the three emperors” [Dreikaiserjahr].