The location could not have been more appropriate for the event. Paris, symbol of metropolitan life and backdrop for the cultural dreams of the nations located between Asia and the Americas, hosted the most opulent World Exhibition at the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. Never before held on such an imposing scale, Paris was the scene for staging the globally achieved standards of the means of production: technological, economical, cultural, and political power. Covering an area of some 1,080,000 square meters, magnificent cathedrals of high capitalism were erected along both banks of the Seine, architectural monuments to the civilising force of technical progress, palaces for art and consumerism, and grand machinery courts. Most of the pavilions - as though to confirm one of the fundamental laws of the system being celebrated - were demolished as soon as the exhibition was over. A few short months having sufficed to realise their use-value, they were relegated summarily to the gigantic scrap heap of history, these testimonies to the ‘marvel … that was presented to mankind at the turn of the century, like a fata morgana of its own cultural development',’ as George Malkowsky, exhibition chronicler, expressed it with characteristic German pathos.

Among the greatest show attractions of Paris Exposition 1900 were the panoramas. With all technical means available, homage was paid to these large-format all-around visioILs, where, for a small fee, the city-dwellers of the last century loved to be captivated by illusions. Yet it would be for the last time on this scale, for the World Exhibition in the French capital represented the historical swan song of this medium of optical presentation (often with acoustic accompaniment as well) for larger audiences. ‘ …especially in my later childhood', wrote WaIter Benjamin who was a regular visitor to the Kaiserpanorama in Berlin, ‘one got used to “travelling around” in a room that was half empty'.’ Many foreign exhibitors featured simpler versions with panoramic views of their national cultures as additional free entertainment. However, others revelled in presentations of the superlative variety:

The panorama ‘Le Tour du Monde', partly funded by the Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes, was housed in a splendid circular building.