Children of Kaiser Wilhelm & Empress Augusta Victoria (Dona)

Thank you Thomas for posting the picture of Dona as a bride. I don't think that I've ever seen one before.     I agree with Louise that she was attractive & quite the match for Willy. I'm interested in finding out more on her if anyone has any info I would greatly appreciate it!  Thanks
Ammie

p.s.  Thomas what website did you get that picture of the young Dona?

As a very young woman she was not unattractive, apparently with nice coloring (though nowhere near Ella's category!) but that didn't last long. Vicky tried to get her interesting in more flattering clothes etc... (she had probably learned a lesson from her own less flattering days!) but Dona basically blew her off with the view that since she was just going to keep popping out kids and lose her waistline anyway, what was the purpose of trying to look attractive or fashionable? She was also a bit stumpy and ill-proportioned, but as she aged, gained a certain regalness and style. QV noted her 'sweet, winning smile'.

Thank you Ella and Thomas! Lovely pictures!

Ella, do you have the one of the boys looking into the cradle when Viktoria was a baby, I can't find it.

I'm still working on getting the ones you sent me saved, converted to jpg and uploaded, the computer has been very slow! Thanks again!

I have a collection of  pictures of Kaiser`s family,his sons and their wifes,but know almost nothing about these princes and princesses...Could anyone  give a short charachteristic of Kaiser`s sons and especially their wifes? Or any links...books in English..

Thanks!  

[European Royal History Journal]

I highly recommend you acquire Marlene Eilers-Koenig's Queen Victoria's Descendants (1997) and her Update (published earlier this year).  They are worth every penny!

Arturo Beéche

I have a collection of  pictures of Kaiser`s family,his sons and their wifes,but know almost nothing about these princes and princesses...Could anyone  give a short charachteristic of Kaiser`s sons and especially their wifes? Or any links...books in English..

Thanks!  

Hi, I lost the first half of this because it was too long and when I went back to edit it was gone.    I'll try to reconstruct.

Prince August Wilhelm "Auwi" of Prussia (4th) .Prince Augustus William of Prussia was born on 29 Jan 1887 in Potsdam, Germany. He died on 25 Mar 1949 in Stuttgart.  Mostly known these days for his pro-Nazi views. He was even an SA member and Party propagandist before 1933 and attempted recruitment of many royals.The Prince served as a front-line staff officer during WW1. His marriage to Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (a relative of his mother's) was not successful and ended in divorce after one son, Alexander Ferdinand.They divorced at Electors Hall Divorce in 1920. It is suspect that his father's addication and the fact that his family no longer was the ruling family of Germany was a major factor.
AV family all had Nazi-connections. One sister, Helena, married to a Danish prince was actually banished from Denmark for years by Christian X over it. Another sister, Victoria Adelheid married Charles Edward, Duke of Coburg, a fervent Nazi supporter who was arrested & tried after WW2.

The youngest, Joachim,born on 17 Dec 1890 in Berlin. He died on 18 Jul 1920 in Potsdam. He was also the subject of homosexual rumors. He was married unhappily to Princess Marie of Anhalt. They had one child, Karl Franz Joseph who would marry his step-grandmother's daughter. He was apparently not as strong as the other boys and his mother worried about him. Joachim appears to have been an impatient boy. He served in WWI as a calvary officer. He was woulded in the battle in the Masurian Lake District of East Prussia. He married Marie of Anhalt in 1916. After the Armistace in 1918, Joachim visited his father at Doorn. It was not a happy reunion. The former Kaiser was unhappy with his sons' behavior, including Joachim's gambling. Joachim eventually returned to Germany. He found it difficult adjusting to his reduced circumstances. His wife left him. He shot himself in 1920 at a hunting lodge near Potsdam.  Considered his mother's favorite, it was thought this hastened her demise. Marie of Anhalt later adopted as a "son" who calls himself Prince of Anhalt and who is married to Zsa-Zsa Gabor.

[European Royal History Journal]

Marie Auguste of Anhalt "adopted" several people who paid her money in exchange.  That way, these adoptees could change their name and use Prinz von Anhalt (in the case oa males) as their last name.  Ms. Gabor's husband happens to be one of these money adoptees, Ms. gabor is completely confused on the matter and has claimed she would stand "in line" to become THE Empress of Germany.  Now, that is cause for LOL!

Arturo Beéche

Oskar
Prince Oskar morganatically married Countess Ina-Marie von Bassewitz (1888-1973) She was created Countess of Ruppin. She was the daughter of Count Karl von Bassewitz-Levetzow and Countess Margarete von der Schulenburg. They were married in both religious and civil ceremonies on July 31, 1914 at Schloss Bellevue, near Berlin. This was a fateful year for German royalty and the wedding took place just days before World War I began. Oskar commanded the Liegnitz King's grenadiers. The Kaiser had hoped to place Oskar on the Finnish throne. In the aftermath of Revolution in Russia, Finland declared its independence. The Finns voted for a monarchy, but chose Friederich Karl of Hesse but nothing ever came of it. Later on, he joined a far-right veterans group the Stanlhelm. Like many Hohenzollerns, he felt that the rise of right wing poarties like the NAZIs would lead to the reinstatement of the monarchy. His eldest son (of 4 children) would be killed in WW2.

CP William: Wilhelm II's oldest son was born in Potsdam in 1882. He  later remembered carefree days at the Marmorpalais. His relationship, never very good,  with his father became more formal after he became Kaiser. At age 10, Prince Wilhelm received the rank of Lt. of the 1st  Infantry Regiment, in accordance with tradition.  When W  was 14, another important stage of his life began. Together with his younger brother EF he was sent to the military Academy at Ploen where he would spend 4 yrs.. It was the rule in the Hohenzollern family, that every Prince had to learn a trade. Wilhelm decided to become a lathe operator (a drechsler). 3 days later he began his officer training in Potsdam. As he was 18 & of age,  he began active service with his regiment in 1900. He seems to have had a over-blown sense of his own importance & abilities. For example, he thought that he was a talented artist. As a boy he made rather crude drawings which he would present to the members of court. One of the Empresses's ladies-in-waiting wrote, it is a pity "... that our young Princes think so much of everthing they do. They never seem to compare it with what others do, but believe it to be admirable simply because they did it." [Wilhelm II, Van der Kiste,  p. 86.] He can be seen sketching later in exile however, so good or not, he enjoyed the activity. He also became a notorious womanizer. He took part in active social life. A regimental comrade, Magnus, Freiherr von Braun, the father of the future rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, said of him "The CP was an open, dependable comrade who cheerfully did his duty. The Ladies liked him because of his charm. He was honorable, tactful and a Grand Seigneur of the first class." On a trip to England he behaved so badly that his father was furious. He had given a  confirmation ring given him by Queen Victoria to a female liaison. He spent 2 years at the U of Bonn where he studied civil law and administration. The CP was promoted to Capt on the occasion of his 21st birthday. Around this time, his parents began the hunt for a suitable bride for him. He was currently in a liaison (that continued either platonically or not throughout his marriage) with the singer Geraldine Farrar with whom he was seen in public quite frequently. Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin came to their attention as a possible bride . Willy attended the wedding Cecile’s brother in M-S in  1904. There he met the 17-year-old Cecilie and he was impressed with her looks & personality. Soon, talks were under way for a wedding. Cecilie was the perfect dynastic match for Willy, being. the daughter of GD Friedrich Franz III and GDss Anastasia Michailovna of Russia and the younger sister of Queen Alexandrine  of Denmark. Cecilie was fluent in French, as well as German, English, and Russian. The CP was made a major in the army & assigned to train in various ministries (interior, finance, and agriculture) as well as the navy office. One of the tutors assigned to work with him found him likable, but unwilling to work seriously. Despite differences between them, his father did allow him on occasion to deputize for him. The marriage was conducted with great pomp & ceremony in 1905. The couple quickly became "bright  young things' in Berlin society. While it was an excellent dynastic match, the marriage unfortunately did not prove to be a happy one. Even before the marriage, Cecilie, expressed displeasure with the time the prince spent with his regimental friends. Problems developed on the honeymoon, when the CP reportedly lonely for his bachelor drinking pals made clear that Cecile was not to interfere with those friends. The couple were, however, blessed with 6 children. One daughter, Alexandrine, appears to have suffered from Down Syndrome

CP William pt 2:
The CP became controversial in pre-WWI Germany. His politics were right wing & he became the darling of the Pan-Germans, Germans who wanted to annex areas in neighboring countries where Germans lived including Alsace-Lorraine. He was criticized in the Reichstag and the press for siding with Col von Reuther, who was being tried for firing on an Alsatian crowd. At the onset of WWI, he was given command of the 5th Army on the western front. He participated in some of the victories of the German army, especially at Verdun &  Wilhelm conferred to Iron Crosses on his son for bravery at Longwy. Yet father & son were soon arguing again over the conduct of the war, with Willy thinking it wasn't be waged aggressively enough. In Nov. 1918 father & son abdicated & he followed his father into exile to the Netherlands, taking refuge on the island of Wieringen.. This was an internment camp for soldiers from the beligerant powers. He was able to visit his father at Doorn but relations between the two did not improve. He renounced his rights of sucession to the crown of Prussia and the German Empire in Dec 1918. With this (and the death of one of his political foes) he was allowed to return to Germany where, at loose ends, he led an aimless life & had many meningless short relationships & drank a great deal. Like two of his brothers (Eitel Friederich and August Wilhelm), he joined the Stahlhelm, a far right group of war veterans hostile to democracy and committed to the need for order and discipline. He joined Cecile in Potsdam, but the 2 never really separated nor really reconciled. They were together for family occasions but didn't spend very much time together otherwise and she hadn't followed him into exile. His support of the Nazis is mixed: he hoped they may lead to a restoration, but doesn't seem to have actively supported Hitler (at least not the extent of some of his brothers). He apparently joined as a vehicle driver towards the end of WW2 and was briefly interned by the French at Burg Hohenzollern. Later he settled in the town there and upon his death in 1951 of a heart attack, he was buried at the Burg (as was later Cecile, their son Louis Ferdinand and his wife Kira).

Marie Auguste of Anhalt "adopted" several people who paid her money in exchange.  That way, these adoptees could change their name and use Prinz von Anhalt (in the case oa males) as their last name.  Ms. Gabor's husband happens to be one of these money adoptees, Ms. gabor is completely confused on the matter and has claimed she would stand "in line" to become THE Empress of Germany.  Now, that is cause for LOL!

Arturo Beéche
 

I always thought this was one of the more bizarre of royal stories. I love the photos of 'Princess' Zsa-Zsa (as she sometimes asks to be called) and her 'Prince' decked out in jewels and making 'official' poses.  

Adalbert. Seems to have been the most well-adjusted. He married Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (1897-1971) a relative of his mother's, but with mental instability, in 1914. Much of 'Adi's' life was spent in & out of institutions (where she often met up with Charly's daughter Feodore of Saxe-Meiningen). Much of this is talked about in Purple Secret by Rohl. During World War I he served aboard ship as a naval officer (alone among the sons in not going into the Army), a lieutenant colonel aboard a battleship. After the War, he largely disassociated himself from his family and Germany. He took the name of the Count of Lingen and lived quitely on Lake Geneva in Switzerland. He & his wife had a stillborn daughter and later another daughter Victoria Marina who married an American & son William Victor.

Thanks you all! Exciting information!!!

But who was favourite son for Kaiser? If I correct - Wilhelm II didn`t
like much his Crownprince..Joachim was mother`s favoruite...May be August Wilhelm or Eitel Friedrich?

Thanks you all! Exciting information!!!

But who was favourite son for Kaiser? If I correct - Wilhelm II didn`t
like much his Crownprince..Joachim was mother`s favoruite...May be August Wilhelm or Eitel Friedrich?

I don't know if he had a favorite--his favorite child was the only daughter, Victoria Louise. He seems to have been pretty scary to the sons. Wilhelm who often complained about his childhood, does not appear to have been much of a father himself. He made little effort to have fun with the children or create a warm home. Wilhelm, in fact, appears to have very little concept of childhood. He appears to have treated the boys as "small recruits". He often barked at them and strictly disciplined them. He maintained a very formal relationship with the boys. This seems quite a contrast to how he and his brothers and sisters had been treated by their father. He appears to have mellowed quite a bit as a grandfather.

He made little effort to have fun with the children or create a warm home. Wilhelm, in fact, appears to have very little concept of childhood. Crown Prince Wilhelm later wrore about his father, "... he was always very friendly and, in his own way, loving toward us; but, by, the nature of things, he had none to much time to devote to us. As a consequence, in reviewing our early childhood, I can discover scarsely a seen in which he joins in our childish games with unconstrained mirth or happy abandon. If I try now to explain it to myself, it seems to me as though he was unable to divest himself of the dignity and superiority of the mature adult man as to enable him to be properly young with us little fellows." [William, Crown Prince, Memoirs, p. 15.

He appears to have treated the boys as "small recruits". He often barked at them and strictly disciplined them. He also maintained a very formal relationship with the them. Wilhelm did not incourage the boys to come into his study. When they did, they were taught to hold their hands behind their back so that they would not knock anything over.

Wilhelm also seems to have been closer with his daughters-in-law, especially Cecile who was often seen visiting him in Doorn, even after his 2nd marriage which many of his own children heartily disapproved of. Victoria Louise was quite spoiled according to her governess, but likable nonetheless. She was apparently the only one not afraid of their father and who had a relaxed relationship with him. (Reminds me a bit of Philip & Anne).  Her memoirs speak very lovingly of him. She also makes the following notes on her brothers:

Adalbert--Wilhelm tried to foster a marriage between Adalbert & one of NII's daughters (presumably Olga) he was rebuffed. [Since Adalbert seems the nicest, more normal and best looking, as well as living out a quiet life in Switz, too bad this didn't come to pass maybe.   ] He helped facillitate her Romeo & Juliet romance with Ernst August of Cumberland by smuggling letters and photos to her. He was also the coduit between the 2 when the romance was sanctioned, but the complicated details regarding the Hanoverian properties, etc..had to be worked out. One of the brothers who stayed with the Empress to comfort her when VL left on her honeymoon. Probably due to his help with her marriage (he also seems to have been her favorite) he was a godfather to their 1st child (along w/such good company as George V, NII, the Kaiser & Franz Josef). Served on battleship Luitpold. Was with father at mother's deathbed & accompanied mother's body back to Potsdam for burial. Died in 1948 died in La Tour de Peilz in Switzerland.

Thank your so much,Grandduchessella!!!  

Apparently I found a very good research "Queen Victoria Grandchildren" with wonderful pictures and texts.It contens a  chapter about Kaiser and some facts from his sons lives.
And (what a surprise!) I `ve found rather interesting if not amazing memories of Empress Dona`s sister! "Behind the scenes of Prussian court" by Luise Sophie,Princess of Prussia (edition 1933)...Obviously this Princess hated Kaiser  all her life.-I`ve read just a half of the book and keep on...
have you read this questionable memories? What`s you opinion about Princess Luise`s bad tongue?

Do you know this book? It's very good. I think you could find some informations & photos in it...