Kaiser Wilhelm's home in Netherlands

[johntaylor]

I'm not sure where this fits into the Forum best, but there's a fascinating piece in today's Guardian about efforts to save the house where Kaiser Wilhelm lived in exile in the Netherlands: 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/18/dutch-royal-family-step-in-to-save-former-home-huis-doorn-kaiser-wilhelm-ii

 

Sounds well worth a visit for anyone interested in the Great War.

 

John

[Wexflyer]

His late majesty is buried there.

[SiegeGunner]

I wonder if they've replaced all the trees he chopped down ...

[JWK]

Never knew "Huis Doorn" was "controversial", but okay....

 

http://www.huisdoorn.nl/en/museum/house/

 

Let's see what comes out of this interesting quote:

"[Queen Wilhelmina] had used her blood ties to persuade Wilhelm not to invade the Netherlands during the war, in which the country remained neutral. Academic research is soon expected to definitively prove what much of the evidence suggests: that the Dutch queen later repaid Wilhelm by letting him cross the border to safety. "

 

Queen Wilhelmina despised the Kaiser for fleeing his country in times of trouble (although she did the same in 1940.....). "A monarch should never leave his country in times of trouble, he should fight to the bitter end"

They never met face-to-face during his time in the Netherland (despite their so-called blood-relations) but the rest of the Dutch Royal family were frequent visitors, Prince-consort Hendrik (von Mecklenburg-Schwerin) (apparently he was instrumental in organising the 59 trainwagons load of stuff (including 3 barber's chairs!) from the Kaiser's former palaces), Queen Emma (von Waldeck-Pyrmont, the Dowager Queen), Prince Bernard (von Lippe-Biesterfeld), the later Queen Juliana etc..  (Coincidentally: they were all Germans by birth, except for the later Queen Juliana: she was "only" a daughter of a German Duke, and the wife of a German prince (of véry recent princely nobility))

 

And apparently Philipp Scheidemann wrote in his "Memoiren" that Queen Wilhelmina "had invited" the Kaiser to the Netherlands at the request of the Kaiser's cousin, King George V.....

An honour dear King George V did nót bestow on his óther cousin, the Tsar of Russia..... and his family..

If Scheidemann's allegation is the truth, that is.....

 

The Kaiser's son, Crown-Prince Wilhelm, also fled to the Netherlands, and lived for 5 years on (the then island) Wieringen, where he charmed the locals, learned making horseshoes (with the letter "W" on them) at the local blacksmith etc

And rumour has it that, when he returned to Germany in 1924, he left behind a "love child" or two.....

Edited 18 September , 2018 by JWK

[petwes]

Remembered in his own country though.  He has his own little room in the Rathaus in Bremen.  Here's a picture I took a couple of years ago

 

 

Peter

[Guest]

   There is a splendid account of the Kaiser and his court in exile at Doorn in the 1930s written by Sir John Wheeler-Bennett in his book of memoirs Knaves, Fools and Heroes". An excellent piece of writing based on his visit  and leaving a vivid and semi-comedic description of something that was a cross between the wildest excesses of the Monarchist League and ancient regime royal ways combined with a picaresque episode of "Fawlty Towers". Well worth a read on a cold evening with a snifter of something invigorating to help with the mirth.

[Wexflyer]

 John Wheeler-Bennett in his book of memoirs Knaves, Fools and Heroes".

 

Must be a rip-off of the Jeffrey Archer work....

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, Wexflyer said:

 

Must be a rip-off of the Jeffrey Archer work....

 

    Alas, No- Jack Wheeler-Bennett's book is genuinely a good read -  I recommend it. It is rather like Paddy Leigh Fermor's tales of fin de siècle (ie before Hitler) Europe-but,politically, very perceptive and written with both wit and gusto.  A never,never world-  Almanach de Gotha meets The Muppet Show. It's wonderful-rest of the book is a good read as well

[JWK]

And there are also the diaries of Captain Sigurd von Ilsemann, his devoted adjudant..

He was an officer in the Imperial Army, and was attached to the Kaiser's entourage only 3 weeks before the "trip to the Netherlands".

Going with the Kaiser would mean an end to his promising career in the army, but the Kaiser specifically asked him to come with him. And so he did.

 

The Kaiser first stayed at Castle Amerongen (where he abdicated), owned at the time by the Count van Aldenburgh Bentinck.

 

There was an episode of a Dutch TV program  "Andere Tijden" ("Different Times". About "forgotten stories" of the Netherlands) about Sigurd, With interviews of his son, and his granddaughter

You may not have a clue what they're talking about but It's got moving pictures of the Kaiser at his favourite pastime: felling trees, and his adjudant von Ilsemann. And a shot of the Kaiser's collection of uniforms. He liked to dress up. (the one shown is from the Leib Huzaren regiment)

https://anderetijden.nl/aflevering/108/Adjudant-van-de-keizer

 

Sigurd only has Wikipedia pages in Dutch. German, and French, I'm afraid.....

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd_von_Ilsemann

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd_von_Ilsemann

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd_von_Ilsemann

 

 

Edited 20 September , 2018 by JWK

[JWK]

8 hours ago, SiegeGunner said:

I wonder if they've replaced all the trees he chopped down ...

 

A telling passage from Sigurd von Ilsemann's diaries:

‘24 oktober 1930. De keizer is weer begonnen hout te hakken in het Amerongense bos. Mijn schoonvader wilde daar eerst niets van hebben, omdat de hoge heer er afgelopen jaar teveel schade heeft aangericht. Maar wat moet de goede keizer anders? In Doorn is bijna niets meer te doen.’

 

“24 october 1930. The Kaiser has started again to chop wood in the forest of Amerongen. My father-in-law didn’t like that one bit, as the High Gentleman had caused too much damage already last year. But what else could the Good Kaiser do? There’s hardly anything left to be chopped down in Doorn [Huis Doorn]”   

 

But yes, they replaced all the trees he chopped down.

[johntaylor]

Thanks for those tips, and I'm glad I posted about the Guardian article.  It was worth it to find out about those two books!

 

John

[bierast]

I've been going there each year for WW1 living history events. The staff are charming (some of them being Germans with 'von' in front of their surnames) and the contents of the house absolutely fascinating - from the uniform collection down to the curious little things like H.M.'s gardening gloves, his special cutlery (designed for comfortable one-handed use due to his arm affliction), his writing chair made from a saddle etc. I've had the peculiar honour of being given a guided tour with other German reenactors, all of us in uniform... as a grubby little Korporal I had the persistent feeling that I really belonged in the stables and certainly not in H.M.'s private rooms!

 

The living history events were originally due to conclude this year, which would have been a real pity - they are the only events I've attended outside Germany where I was not the only Saxon, and I've never seen the WW1 Dutch Army represented anywhere else. However I was pleased to hear from them a few weeks ago that they will be having us back annually in future, but for multi-period reenactment including other eras of Dutch history. Therefore we will be back in 2019, and hopefully many more times.

[Marilyne]

6 hours ago, bierast said:

multi-period reenactment including other eras of Dutch history. Therefore we will be back in 2019, and hopefully many more times.

 

Please tell us when !!!

I'd be happy to come and do a photoshoot...

 

M.

[JWK]

"Living history": Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 May 2019

 

 

https://www.vvvleusden.nl/evenementen/3041965057/living-history-weekend-eerste-wereldoorlog-doorn

(Best to check a week or so beforehand before you make the pilgrimage to Huis Doorn)

 

Don't trust Google-maps on that website! Google-maps has decided (in all their infinite wisdom no doubt! They're c*cky enough for that) that "Huis Doorn" is located just outside the old town of Woerden, of all places..... . 

It's not. The clue is in the name....

 

And two Youtube links (in Dutch ofcourse, but Heverlee is in Flanders (if I'm not mistaken?, so Dutch shouldn't be a problem?)

 

Impressions of "Living history" 2016 and 2017

 

 

[bierast]

On 27/09/2018 at 21:38, JWK said:

"Living history": Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 May 2019

 

I've just checked the email and PDF that I was sent by Huis Doorn and established that the above is completely erroneous!

 

The actual dates are Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 July 2019. Here's the description they have provided for next year's event:
 

Quote

 

The programming is not yet final. Nevertheless, there are already a number of subjects that fit within the new set-up. The Roman Limes / Batavians, Dorestad and Vikings, the Middle Ages, the Eighty Years' War, the Napoleonic period, the First and Second World War and the post-war unification of Europe can be showed. Special attention will be given to subjects related to Museum Huis Doorn. Such as court life at Huis Doorn, but also the exhibitions and events that will take place in Museum Huis Doorn in the coming period.

Within the design of the 'new style event', in addition to military subjects, considerable attention will also be paid to the civil and cultural aspects of a period. Popular expressions such as cavalry demonstrations and the presence of mobile heritage are maintained.

 

 

[JWK]

There was a documentary on Dutch TV tonight re this quote from the article in the Guardian , presented by Mrs Beatrice de Graaf, teaching "History of International Relations & Global Governance" at the University of Utrecht, and a boardmember of Huis Doorn

 

On 18/09/2018 at 17:04, JWK said:

"[Queen Wilhelmina] had used her blood ties to persuade Wilhelm not to invade the Netherlands during the war, in which the country remained neutral.

Academic research is soon expected to definitively prove what much of the evidence suggests: that the Dutch queen later repaid Wilhelm by letting him cross the border to safety. "

 

Wilhelmina and Uncle Willy making plans for a peace-conference in the Hague in the summer of 1918, 40 suitcases from the Imperial Court to be delivered to Amerongen Castle (where the Kaiser stayed first) in July 1918, a Dutch general (very close to the Government) visiting the Imperial HQ at Spa in october/november 1918 officially "on a fact-finding mission to see how the German army performed" (and he returned to the Netherlands via the same route the Kaiser took some hours later), the GP at Amerongen village already knew on 8th or 9th November the Kaiser would be coming etc etc.

The accepted version that "it was all a complete surprise to all concerned" was, I think, most probably because nobody knew about it as it was top-secret.

 

No "smoking gun" found (yet?), but a lot of circumstantial evidence.

 

The Queen and the Government did everything in their power to have any proof of their involvement destroyed, and put up a smoke-screen hiding their true involvement.

And they did a pretty thorough job: 100 years later and we still don't know the whole truth!

 

Article in Dutch:

https://www.rtvutrecht.nl/nieuws/1838415/koninklijke-leugen-wilhelmina-wist-dat-der-kaiser-kwam.html