Kaiser Wilhelm II’s 80th Birthday, 1939

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Friends and Relatives gather to celebrate Kaiser Wilhelm II’s 80th Birthday at Huis Doorn in The Netherlands on this day in 1939, 80 years ago. Among the Royal Attendees were Empress Hermine (wife), Crown Princess Cecilie of Prussia (daughter-in-law), Princess Margaret, Landgravine of Hesse Kassel (sister), the Duchess of Brunswick (daughter), Crown Princess Frederika of Greece (granddaughter), Prince Friedrich Viktor and Princess Franz Josef of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Princess Irene of Prussia, and Duke Friedrich Franz IV of Mecklenburg Schwerin.

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4 thoughts on “Kaiser Wilhelm II’s 80th Birthday, 1939

  1. I have always wondered why did Queen Wilhelmina give asylum to the Kaiser, and I am not saying this in a judgemental manner. It’s just that I have never been able to find out why she did it. In reality, both the US and UK wanted the Kaiser removed somewhere safe- they had no desire to imprison him and certainly not to hang him, just to have him somewhere away, removed from it all. Maybe there lies the queen’s reason? Perhaps they asked her to intervene. After all, the Netherlands was neutral during WWI.

      1. Oh well, that explains it! Queen Wilhelmina had a long memory too. She really hesitated asking for asylum in the UK during WWII, no doubt stemming from this distrust. But actually, I think giving the Kaiser asylum in the Netherlands was probably a godsend. I don’t think the Kaiser was the brightest bulb in the chandelier and I think he was pretty delusional most of the time, which is quite dangerous in a person of national relevance. It was probably best that he be kept away, far from the action. I have read that he was distrustful of Jewish people, but not on a personal basis. He criticized Hitler for his treatment of the Jews, and yet he praised Hitler for his military conquests! A complete disaster, you know? I think he may have suffered from an unresolved Oedipus Complex or something!

  2. @BlueSaphire70, Wilhelm was quite something. He started off with his damaged arm, which he had a complex about his whole life. He probably suffered some brain damage from a lack of oxygen during his difficult birth. Then his parents did things like teaching him to ride a horse by having the groom put him right back on the horse when he fell off, for hours at a time, until he could stay on. Then he fell under the influence of Otto von Bismarck, who encouraged his grandiosity and reactionary ideas and turned him against his parents. He was a psychiatrist’s dream.

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