German Royal Palaces, Castles and Homes

[HerrKaiser]

that was one of Vicky's first official undertakings as Empress. She and her daughters gave aid to disaster victims rather than make gala social events their agendae.

[violetta]

facade of the palace (while it was cleaned and renovated) so i assume that nowadays it looks better

[PAVLOV]

May I ask please if anyone knows if the contents of any of these palaces was evacuated before the war, as was the case in Russia ? Or was everything just blown up ?

Also which of the palaces and castles are still owned by members of the family, and do they still live in any of them ?

Thank You

[HerrKaiser]

There were two wars that devastated the properties of the royal families--WWI and WWII. After WWI, the homes were generally in structureal soundness, but due to massive financial losses, many of the possessions were sold off to get cash.

During WWII, the buildings themselves were often the vicitims of air bombings, but by that time, the original furunishings were already removed or sold. There is a not a large collection of original furnishings still in museums and the palaces. Some exist, but losing two huge wars does not leave much behind.

[PAVLOV]

Yes of course one can understand that, a shame really that most of the contents was dispersed, and with it probably much of Germany's cultural heritage. In comparison I suppose that  Russia is a miracle, merely because they rebuilt so quickly and sent the contents of the palaces to Siberia. One thing a person must be grateful to the Soviets for.  Pity the Germans did not have the same foresight.

But I would still like to know if any of them own and live in any of the Palaces / Castles ?

[Learning]

The Hohenzollern family owns two castles in what is now Baden-Wurttemburg: Schloss Hohenzollern and Schloss Sigmaringen. After the revolution the family was given the right to make limited use of Schloss Cecilienhoff in Potsdam and the Alte Schloss in Berlin. Such occupancy rights ended after the second world war. The palaces today are mainly museums or serve other public functions.

Some of the other German royal families did manage to keep their castles and still have them today.

[HerrKaiser]

Yes of course one can understand that, a shame really that most of the contents was dispersed, and with it probably much of Germany's cultural heritage. In comparison I suppose that  Russia is a miracle, merely because they rebuilt so quickly and sent the contents of the palaces to Siberia. One thing a person must be grateful to the Soviets for.  Pity the Germans did not have the same foresight.

But I would still like to know if any of them own and live in any of the Palaces / Castles ?

One must also remember that the Germans did not get into St Petersburg and Moscow, so the type of complete and utter destruction the allies levied on Germany was not the case in the two major locations where the treasures would have existed. Plus, the soviets did have places to hide the stuff. Germany ended up defenseless and fully invaded; any foresight, which did exists, was a mute point by 1945.

[Stefan22]

The Hohenzollern family owns two castles in what is now Baden-Wurttemburg: Schloss Hohenzollern and Schloss Sigmaringen. After the revolution the family was given the right to make limited use of Schloss Cecilienhoff in Potsdam and the Alte Schloss in Berlin. Such occupancy rights ended after the second world war. The palaces today are mainly museums or serve other public functions.

Some of the other German royal families did manage to keep their castles and still have them today.

Hohenzollern Castle ist owned by both the prussian Royal Family and the Princely Family of Hohenzollern. The Princely Family of Hohenzollern owns also Sigmaringen Castle, Umkirch Castle and a lot more.

[violetta]

I managed to find some pictures of the kaiser`s palace in Poznan.pictures were taken between ww1 and ww2

the hall devoted to Roman Emperors

[violetta]

some more rooms

[violetta]

throne room

[violetta]

living room of wilhelm II




green living room

[Robert_Hall]

Violetta, do you know if this palace still exsists?

[violetta]

Violetta, do you know if this palace still exsists?

Robert, it DOES exist. On page 1 of this thread i posted modern pictures of the palace. in fact, in poznan there was the whole imperial district. i posted some info on page 1. this year they celebrate the 100th anniversary of the palace and plan some events. also, they issued a   

[violetta]

they also issued a set of postcards devoted to the 100th anniversary of the palace. and invite people on guided tours.there appeared a new documentary o the history of the palace. i have`t been there yet though i`m planning to. well, not every city is honored by havig an imperial residence there. i know too little about this residence but hopefully i`ll learn more as i`, so curipus