Kaiser Wilhelm II's Urinal Discovered In Baltic Sea Shipwreck

Porcelain Potty Of Kaiser Wilhelm Discovered At Bottom Of Baltic

German archaeologists believe that they have found Kaiser Wilhelm II's urinal at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, once again proving the old saying, "One man’s Kaiser Wilhelm II’s urinal is another man’s treasure."

All proverbs aside, the urinal's discovery sheds light on the treasure trove of artifacts that scatter the depths of the Baltic sea, many of which are the sunken remains of naval battles that took place during World War I and World II, the Telegraph reports.

The porcelain potty in question was discovered when German maritime archaeologists were probing the wrecks of the Udine, a World World I Royal Navy battleship sunk by the British in 1915 about 30 miles off the German coast.

"Kaiser Wilhelm was on board the ship when it was launched in Kiel on December 11, 1902, and went on its maiden voyage," lead archaeologist Reihnhard Oser told the Telegraph. The team made the discovery after taking a series of photographs and were very surprised to learn the identity of the urinal's owner, Reinhard explained.

Archaeologists have a lot of ocean floor to cover if they want to top the long-lost latrine. Over 3,000 sunken ships currently lie at the Batlic's bottom, the oldest of which may date back as far as 800 years.

In March 2010, a gas company building an underwater pipeline between Russia and Germany discovered the remains of a dozen shipwrecks believed to have occurred sometime between the 17th and 19th centuries, the Associated Press reported.

"The content can tell us a lot about everyday life during that time," Peter Norman of Sweden’s National Heritage Board told the Associated Press when discussing the pipeline discovery.

So what exactly can Kaiser Wilhelm II's urinal tell us about life during the early 20th century? Archaeologists are hopefully hard at work on that one.

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