It all seemed so strange that socialist-democratic Germany is once a monarchy and had a thriving Royal family. Its last reigning monarch (up to 1918), Wilhelm II, Emperor of the German Empire (House of Hohenzollern) and the Kingdom of Prussia, who according to history was responsible for WWI, just died 60 years ago (1941) in Huis Doorn – Doorn, Utrecht, The Netherlands where he lived for the remainder of his life after being expelled out of Germany. He vowed not return to his homeland unless monarchy is reinstated.
The elegant poortgebouw – entry gateway of Huis Doorn Estate in Doorn, Utrecht in Neo-Renaissance style. Dutchman and I went to visit Huis Doorn a weekend ago.
Question: Did you know that Wilhelm II was half English? His mother was the daughter of Queen Vistoria thus making him and his line a successor to the throne of England. Queen Victoria of England even died in his arms. He was said to be the favorite grandchild – her oldest grandchild.
The little castle called Huis Doorn is surrounded by a moat with a brick bridge as seen on foto… and this is Wilhelm II, ex-Emperor and King of Germany exiled in this little castle in Doorn, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
More pictures here: Huis Doorn – Doorn, Utrecht, The Netherlands
After WWI, according to the Treaty of Versailles, Wilhelm II was arraigned but Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands who was neutral during the war, refused to extradite him back to Germany. Our tour guide said that the House of Orange (Dutch royalty) have family ties with the House of Hohenzollern (German royalty) so it could be this reason why Queen Wilhelmina refused to hand him over to the German Court.
The tour guide also made an interesting comment that it was unfair to blame Wilhelm II for WWI. He definitely instigated the conflict, he sought for it, but he didn’t want it to become a much bigger conflict than it already was. It was too late when it became a liability. He lost control. Mutiny ensued because opportunity was there for wolves to take advantage of. Other European allied countries were also seeking to benefit from the war. Wilhelm II on the other hand thought he was set up in the midst of a huge diplomatic conspiracy.
Museum about Wilhelm II in Huis Doorn and next foto is a blown up copy of a foto taken in the New Palace in Potsdam, Berlin during a large feast. You can see Wilhelm II turning his head speaking, rather giving orders to the attendant. Those are real silver, china and crystal from Wilhelm’s personal collection that were used during the feast on the foto. These are now exhibited in Huis Doorn.
The kitchen… this is as far as I can take fotos inside. Upstairs in the rooms, it was forbidden to take fotos, but in the Huis Doorn website (see link in opening paragraph) they have a huge foto collection.
Some of the fascinating things to note about the man is he is relatively small, he always wears hats that make him look taller, and he has a fashionable moustache that curls on its ends – his trademark actually.
He has also been described as egotistic and narcissistic – he is clearly, clearly emotionally unstable. This instability has led him to many public outbursts and resentment against other European monarchs that later resulted to alienation of Germany. So his theory of diplomatic conspiracy around him could be right after all but in the end it was his own doing. His recklessness led to the subsequent fall of Imperial Germany. Ach, people really need to be careful of their E-G-O!
Egos are high maintenance; they need constant feeding. For Wilhelm II, it was said that he would spend long hours watching his own painting admiring how great he is. His life size paintings in the rooms of Huis Doorn were positioned in such a way that it is easy for him to view them while casually sitting in the parlor, in his study, or even while dining. Man oh man, what a man, lol!
Despite his vanity and self-absorption, his staff at Huis Doorn, a mix of German and Dutch is loyal to him. Rumors were that the ex-Kaiser paid his staff higher wages than any other baron in the country. He had 60 staff and they all come in different shifts.
An eagle sculpture on the estate grounds, and the back view of the little Doorn castle.
He was also partly handicapped. His left arm is withered and smaller due to Erb’s Palsy resulting from a harrowing breech birth. Interestingly, almost all his pictures were taken from the right angle because it nicely conceals his left shrunken arm. We’ve seen a couple of his preserved and adorned royal-military suits exhibited in the oval room, and indeed, the sleeves on the left were a tad shorter.
Oh, Wilhelm II by the way married twice. Now this would have to be the cherry on top regarding his romantic affairs… when he asked his second wife to marry him in Doorn, he gave her a gift – a foto of his ex-wife, lol. For real!
The mausoleum of Wilhelm II – his wishes are never to return to Germany unless monarchy is reinstituted in the country. His 2 wives together with the rest of the past kings, queens, princes and princesses are burried in Potsdam. Hitler actually wanted to bring his body back to Germany. On the next foto is the grave of one of Wilhelm’s dogs. The graves of his dogs (think about 4 graves) are laid behind the eagle statue facing the mausoleum through the wide green open field.
Huis Doorn is designed and decorated in old Victorian style – abundance of cluttered designs in my opinion. I am clearly not fond of the Victorian period but I like appreciating it, just not living with or in it. The house is preserved just the way it is when the Kaiser died. The manor has a lift (elevator) and you have to understand that in 1920, lifts are a scarce invention. Moreover, the Kaiser brought with him MANY art pieces, vases, sculpture, paintings, and furniture from his palace in Potsdam that only a few of them can be or are used and exhibited in the house.
Furniture that caught my eye during the tour, and which the tour guide also pointed to us is the old version of Samsonites. I had a good laugh seeing what a Samsonite luggage looked like before! They are actually cabinets, like high chest drawers with handles on the sides.
A brasserie across Huis Doorn, perfect stop over for tea in the afternoon after the visit. By the way, the estate grounds are open to the public to roam around. You only need to pay if you enter and take the guided tour inside the little castle. The tour runs an interval of every half an hour I think – guided tour in Dutch and German languages. Parking is also gratis for visitors right beside the estate just across this brasserie.
Hearsays about him during WWII when the German Nazi soldiers invaded the Netherlands and were passing through Doorn with their tanks, he was seen outside his estate on the side streets cheering and clapping. He even sent a sympathetic letter to Hitler which the equally egoistic Hitler ignored. This letter was eventually used against him by the Dutch, and when he died the Dutch government seized all his assets in the Netherlands.
For a man once as powerful as Wilhelm II, I could not imagine the humility he must have gone through — the uprising amongst his high ranking military officials, abdicating the throne, being banished from his homeland, and imprisoned in a small estate in a miniature castle in the Netherlands.
This man used to be the Emperor and King of Germany. He lived in the New Palace of Potsdam. In the Netherlands he was but an asylum seeker. Huis Doorn is nothing but a small house compared to where he used to live. Yet, it seems he never learned his lessons after all. After WWI, history repeated in WWII. He cheered for Hitler.
Like the title of the poster I saw in the hallway of Huis Doorn museum — From eagle to sparrow… right, and he even learned the Dutch language.
Visit Period: February 2009
Destination: Doorn (Utrechtse Heuvelrug – Utrecht), The Netherlands