Kaiser Wilhelm II

[Learning]

A few odds and ends. I've always understood that -

he crossed the border alone;
he was often jeered by crowds outside his house at Doorn;
he seldom (if ever) left his estate except when he followed Donna's casket to the border;
there were no attempts on his life (which I find surprising);
there was no attempt by the Allies to kidnap him (they probably really didn't want a trial);
he was offered asylum in the UK by Churchill when the Nazis invaded and almost said yes.

Are these correct?

[Kalafrana]

As I understand it, the Kaiser left army headquarters at Spa in the imperial train with a large entourage but transferred to a convoy of cars on route to the Dutch border. Although quite a number of the entourage were turned back at the border, he still entered Holland with something like 40 followers.

He was indeed offered asylum by Churchill, but refused.

Ann

[grandduchessella]

I have merged the new topic with the pre-existing one. All posters--please remember to do a search before starting a new topic. It doesn't take long and it keeps all the moderator's job easier. Thanks. 

[HerrKaiser]

As I understand it, the Kaiser left army headquarters at Spa in the imperial train with a large entourage but transferred to a convoy of cars on route to the Dutch border. Although quite a number of the entourage were turned back at the border, he still entered Holland with something like 40 followers.

He was indeed offered asylum by Churchill, but refused.

Ann

Churchhill's offer was a purely political move in hopes of using the former Kaiser as a media tool against Hitler's regime. Wilhelm was overjoyed when the Germans won the war against France in a very short time. While he opposed many of hitler's internal policies, he had no desire to snub his nose at the German goverenment at that time and was not in harms way. He died soon after.

[Carolath Habsburg]

[Olgasha]

That last one is wonderful!

The other portrait of Kaiser's Family

[Carolath Habsburg]

Danke!!

Wilhelm and little Kronprinz

[HerrKaiser]

This was a celebrated photo of the Imperial family. Everyone was looking quite well. A print of this has hung on the wall in a very expensive restaurant in Atlanta GA for a number of years.

[HerrKaiser]

That last one is wonderful!

The other portrait of Kaiser's Family

This painting is one of my favorites. It shows the generational change going on with Cecilie in the picture as well as Eitel's wife Sophie. What is particularly wonderful about the portrait is how it shows movement as Dona is leaning forward in a gesture to the hound and the items VL is carrying. One of the most pleasing royal family portraits ever painted, imo.

[violetta]

wilhelm II and dona(?) in poland,visiting princes von pless

[Eddie_uk]

Handsome Wilhelm!

[Kalafrana]

If you can get hold of a copy of the DVD of the BBC series 'Fall of Eagles', Barry Foster did what is probably the definitive portrayal of the Kaiser. He really looked like him and managed some very arrogant mannerisms as well.

I heard a nice tale from an elderly friend whose father's Royal Artillery battery was visited by the Kaiser some time in the late 1890s. The battery had a few weeks' notice of the visit, the Battery Sergeant Major got busy, and on the appointed day turned out on parade with a moustache that out-Kaisered the Kaiser!

Ann

[Carolath Habsburg]

Toddler Wilhelm


 

[Naslednik Norvezhskiy]

The first moated castle at Doorn was built by Wilhelm's 16x great grand uncle Adolf of Waldeck, Canon at Utrecht and Bishop of Liège. His sister-in-law Sophie, Countess of Waldeck, was born as the daughter of Heinrich the Child of Brabant, the first Landgrave of Hesse and son of Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia.

[THERRY]

Wilhelm in 1889

Click on to zoom