Hohenzollern Jewels

[Robert_Hall]

2 items found in a simple Google search of  Hohenzollern jewels-
 one,  W.G. Burchette writes of a major theft by American soldiers of a chest of jewels from Prince Ferdinand, son of Hermine, second wife of the Kaiser in 1950.  These included not only his mother's jewels bur his sister and  the former CP Cecilie as well. Long soory.
 and another, unsourced except to say it is in "People's History"  in 1953  family jewels  were stolen from the Hohenzollern castle in Swabia.  The ceremonial home of the family.  Some of whom are buried there. No follow-up on recovery oin either story.
 

[Eric_Lowe]

Well. Cecilie got nice jewels from her family of Meckenburg and from her mother Anastsia's fab collection. I believe Frederick William got some nice things from his mother Anna, who was also a Hohanzollern Princess.

[ashdean]

Well. Cecilie got nice jewels from her family of Mecklenburg and from her mother Anastsia's fab collection. I believe Frederick William got some nice things from his mother Anna, who was also a Hohanzollern Princess.

Cecile still had jewelry at the time of her death ...including a very large emerald which had come from her greandmother Cecile of Baden Grand Duchess Mikhail via her mother and elder sister Alexandrine Queen of Denmark.

[Eric_Lowe]

I am sure her jewelry collection went to her children (there are many to share it). I wonder if they are all dispersed. We must not forget about Dona's collection too...

[Robert_Hall]

Yes, with all those brides to gift, and not a few daughters I imagine. This is just a guess,  but I think  most of thse jewels wer sent to various places for safe keeping during  wars, especially the second, with all the horroble bombing. And the thievery, confiscations and looting as well after WW2

[Eric_Lowe]

I think Cecilie's jewelry was safe and I think Dona escaped with hers to Doorn.

[Robert_Hall]

Well, according to to what I have read, they were dispersed after her death, amongst the children and grand children. I think the Kaiser even gave a  few pieces to Hermine [?] However, I agree, Dona was not harassed in leaving Germany, was always treated with respect and left to her palace unharassed. How true this all is I have no real idea. I think she also brought a lot of the Kaiser's things with her.

[Eric_Lowe]

Indeed. If you go to Doorn, you will see how much she was able to take. Indeed, without Dona's will one cannot know how her jewels were divided. I think the larger pieces remain in the family. They can be seen in weddings.

[Robert_Hall]

I hope to go to Doorn  next spring, as I will be in Amsterdam again.
 I did  buy a book on the Kaiser's orders and other medals, many of which were jeweled.  For some odd reason, they were brought back to  England  by a UK soldier, if I am correct, this was after WW2 and found in Germany. The family wanted to sell them,  not really caring about the provenance.

[Eric_Lowe]

Sad. I have been to Doorn myself. Well worth the visit. The house is filled with memoribelia of happier times.

[grandduchessella]

Some facts about Cecile's jewels courtesy of Ursula's fabulous jewelry site royalmagazin:

In the swedish magazine SVENSK DAMTIDNING, in the numbers of the spring 1956, some articles about the memories of Crown Princess Cecile of Germany (1886-1954) are on public.  The articles mention that the Crown Princess left her jewels to her chauffeur Mr Otto Groha.

She wrote her last wills on May 2nd 1952 and January 29th 1954. On October 21st 1955 a law court annulled her last will.

Mr Otto Groha became forced by the court to return back to Prince Louis Ferdinand (1907-1994) a diamond diadem with 15 stones of 13,9 carat and about 2300 smaller brilliants.

Other jewels belonged to the Crown Princess which was mentioned in the articles are

* Pear shaped drop sapphire, she got from her husband
* Famous Romanov emerald worth 300.000 swedish crowns (belonged to her mother)
* Small bow brooch of platinum and brilliants, also from her husband

She also mentioned in her will her Faberge tiara so she still had it at that point.

Other jewels:

Queen Louise's (mother of Kaiser Wilhelm I) diamond & aquamarine earrings were donated in 2006 to the Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg (SPSG) by a private owner. They are now on display at castle Paretz, Queen Louise’s favourite castle. An inventory of Queen Luise’s jewellery done in 1810 recorded one necklace of brilliants and aquamarines, and a pair of girandole earrings with brilliants and Aquamarines, probably the same which are to be admired now in Paretz. Very little remains of the former jewel treasure of the Prussian kings. During the Napoleonic wars much was melted for the silver. By 1913, as can be documented, Queen Luise’s earrings were still among the possessions of the royal house. How they ended up at an auction house in Switzerland in 1993 is a mystery.

Queen Elizabeth of Prussia left much of her jewelry to Vicky. Angered, Queen Augusta bypassed Vicky and her daughters in her will and left most of her jewels to her daughter GDss Louise of Baden and her granddaughter, the future Queen Victoria of Sweden and some to Kaiser Wilhelm (who apparently didn't want a good deal of it) and less still to Henry.

[Eric_Lowe]

I thought Kaiserin Augusta left her jewels to Dona ?

[grandduchessella]

Not according to Vicky in a letter to Queen Victoria. Willy, and thus I suppose Dona, were left some items but the bulk seems to have gone to Louise and Victoria Sweden.

[Eric_Lowe]

I think Dona had the bulk of the state jewels and some private jewels from Augusta (who seemed to like Willy & Dona).

[HerrKaiser]

i suspect Dona was pleased enough to have the jewels William gave her and the use of the beau sancy diamond, removed from the hohenzollern crown, and made into a pendant with 22 other diamonds. At the time, the beau sancy was the second largest perfectly clear diamond in the world.