Messages

1

Forum Announcements / Re: Forum Members Not Heard From in a Long While

« on: May 19, 2022, 10:02:35 AM »

I think you're right, Tim. The social media sites have successfully usurped this type of discussion and interest-groups. Personally, I so loathe the social media sites and their control on dialogue, that those who also don't engage with social media are without access to much in the way of discussion groups.

I hope everyone who provided such insight and enjoyment to this site several years ago are still alive and healthy and happily pursuing their lives.

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The Hohenzollern / Re: Books on the Hohenzollerns

« on: January 19, 2020, 12:51:25 PM »

I found a film clip on youtube Berlin 1900 in colour!!!  very impressive. one clip looks like KW II and Nicholas II during the 1913 wedding of the Kaiser's daughter.

Yes, I've seen the same or similar film clip and it was the occasion of Victoria Luise's wedding. Too bad for western civilization that the calm of 1913 and getting-along of royals at the wedding (last gathering of these families, ever) didn't last.

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Alexandra Feodorovna / Re: Alexandra in historical memory and women who have endured a similar afterlife

« on: July 02, 2018, 06:12:12 PM »

As we saw with the 2016 Presidential election in the US, women can be trashed and their reputations destroyed with far more ease than can men. It is disgusting and demoralizing to see this happen but it has happened many times throughout history. Alexandra is but an example.

Well, that is patently untrue but quintessentially a feminist dogma. In reference to the 2016 presidential election--and its aftermath--no public figure woman has ever lived through the vile, reputation-destroying hate speech that President Trump has endured.

Relative to Alexandra and Nickolas, he was Tsar. Catherine the Great was also far above her spouses in terms of being untouchable. And let's not overlook that Alexandra's behavior was quite ripe for criticism and suspicion. The murder of Rasputin was not just for fun; she was deeply involved in his guidance and she had immense influence on the Tsar. While many who knew  her personally may have seen her in a different light, the non-dramatic historical record that is not tempered by the mystic of their demise is not complimentary. It's not uncommon; we have seen many who knew 100s of other historical villains who have viewed them differently than those who suffered from their actions.

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The Hohenzollern / Re: German Royal Palaces, Castles and Homes

« on: July 02, 2018, 10:08:01 AM »

According to the guided tours in Potsdam, Alexandra's husband Nicholas I provided her brother Friedrich Wilhelm IV with materials for his building projects.

Ann

It was actually Charlotte of Prussia, and later Empress of Russia, who was the wife of Nicholas I. Her brother was King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Another brother was Wilhelm I, German Kaiser.

5

The Myth and Legends of Survivors / Re: THE ANNA ANDERSON HOUSE IN CHARLOTTESVILLE

« on: January 02, 2017, 09:38:00 AM »

They had an old car.  I always wondered why the city of Charlottesville did not require them to tend their yard.

Because it wasn't the Soviet Union, was my first thought, as a Norwegian. Do US municipalities really intervene that minutely in people's right to manage their private propety as they wish to?

The idea of a "free" nation may be misleading. Fact is, from small municipalities up to the federal government, there are millions of pages of regulations and rules that restrict individual's and group's "rights" to do whatever they want (or not do) with their owned property. From height of trees, to height of grass, to color of siding, to size of mailbox, etc etc etc, nearly every minute detail has a regulation. That's the work of the government bureaucracies whose main mission is to control how people live. Trump has promised to curb that onslaught of regulations and hopefully roll back many.

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The Hohenzollern / Re: Kaiser Friedrich III, his spouse Victoria and their family, Part II

« on: December 22, 2016, 09:08:40 AM »

This recent photo of the Windsors at Buckingham Palace shows what appears to be portraits of Fritz and Vickie on either sides of the doorway behind the royal family. What a surprise! I thought the palace had cleansed all German royal portraits back in 1917.

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Films and TV shows about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: Royalty in Downton Abbey

« on: March 01, 2014, 03:09:22 PM »

What! You didn't like your one (or two) hours of Zoloft!  First three years were fine.  Now it's time to  end the story.  I think this fourth season is only to set up for the fifth. I predict that Nazis will make a presence in the fifth. 
All the best,
Kitt

LOL! Indeed. Who would have thought a terrific period piece would have morphed into Dallas in a mere few episodes. The 4th season was more like a diversity fair in San Francisco than noble lifestyles of 1920s England.

and yes, looks like the coming of the Nazis are all set to march in. Hopefully, this will distract the writers enough to lose the character of Shirley MacLaine. Did they make her look so bad or is she really that aged? 79 is up there, but for Hollywood, there are ways to accomodate. She has looked like a cross between Bozo the Clown and Norma Desmond.

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Films and TV shows about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: Royalty in Downton Abbey

« on: February 25, 2014, 03:50:42 PM »

Now that the season is over, time to state that the infusion of King George and Queen Mary into the final episode seemed utterly awkward and silly. Little tramp Rose catches the attention of both the King and Prince of Wales? Oy. Then the Crawleys scam their way into a private hotel room to steal already stolen property? I thought I was watching Topkapi instead of Downton Abbey.

9

The Hohenzollern / Re: Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, his family and descendants

« on: February 24, 2014, 01:05:45 PM »

I haven't researched the subject at all, but everything I've read relating to the Crown Prince suggests that he was quite a womaniser, not the reverse. I did read somewhere that he actually died while in bed with a mistress (presumably from a heart attack).

Ann

This is the known record, yes. In fact, his wife Cecilie, was essentially estranged from him for his womanizing although remained married.

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The Hohenzollern / Re: Sons of Kaiser Wilhelm II, & their descendants (except Louis Ferdinand's family)

« on: February 24, 2014, 09:19:52 AM »

In Hitler's case a failed one. There is where his hate for the Jewish collectors began.

To be fair, failed in terms of sales, which most artists fail at.

11

The Hohenzollern / Re: Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, his family and descendants

« on: February 24, 2014, 09:18:27 AM »

It seems that the Crown Prince's playboy style and the accompanying rumours confused many people. I too always assumed he was gay, but can't seem to find any direct mention of this by any biographical sources.

Correct, no mention about this in his biographies that I've seen either, but he was a 'player', as they say. Ann may be correct as well that this mystery woman may have confused "prince" with "crown prince", after all it was very much post-royalty, and if the lady led the life suggested by Bongo, who knows what she may have gotten confused?

That said, some of the photos posted of CP Wilhelm on threads here make him look as gay as pink ink. But, we can't judge a book by its cover.

Also, I'm surprised that the term of endearment "tranny" was used by the lady in that it was not quite yet crafted for slang use in Weimar Germany, was it?  The old slangs for transvestites were TVs, dolls, ladyboys, and mollies.

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The Hohenzollern / Re: Sons of Kaiser Wilhelm II, & their descendants (except Louis Ferdinand's family)

« on: February 21, 2014, 09:24:53 AM »

I'm not sure I agree that the fascists are/were fascinated with the Hohenzollerns (or junkers, holy virgins, or toreadors; yes to muscular nudes). Rather than fascination, I tend to view the Hohenzollerns as a political pawn for the fascists to utilize for their interests while having a general loathing for them and their ilk.

And yes, yes...I can imagine the artist living through a Felix Krull persona. Who doesn't have a bit of Thomas Mann's characters in him or her?

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The Hohenzollern / Re: Sons of Kaiser Wilhelm II, & their descendants (except Louis Ferdinand's family)

« on: February 20, 2014, 12:31:30 PM »

The artist is obviously a skilled painter. His work is abstract and interpretive, so unlike Lazslo, his subjects do not reflect photographic likenesses. Fair enough; tons of very famous artists do likewise.

Interesting that he chose Wilhelm II's family as a main bulk of his gallery work. There must be a backstory that is interesting. Anyone?

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The Hohenzollern / Re: Sons of Kaiser Wilhelm II, & their descendants (except Louis Ferdinand's family)

« on: February 19, 2014, 08:29:50 AM »

the artist must not have been a fan of the Imperial Family. The only semi-flattering image is the Crown Prince and the one of WII in his eagle helmet.

15

The Final Chapter / Re: Public Opinion Immediately After Execution

« on: January 31, 2014, 09:15:13 PM »

The mentality of murderous revolutionaries, like gang thugs in major U.S. cities, is one of great self esteem, self righteousness, and power. I doubt very much the Bolsheviks cared one iota about public opinion at the time. The surrender and loss of the war to Germany was considered an easy way out of the disaster of WWI, and hunkering down to internal issues was all they cared about. International opinion was meaningless for all intents and purposes; while they may have had some desire to have a "good face" internally and to the rest of the world, those were down the list of priorities. Remember also, the war was still going on for other nations and 'what happened in Russia, stayed in Russia'. Even the borderline supporters of "the Czar" had suffered so greatly pre and during the war and previously by the czarist structure, it was of little consequence that he and his family were executed. When people are suffering and dying, it's the potential hope they put their bets on, not the disasters of the past.