Interested in pictures of some uniforms of the Kaiser?

Pierre Grande Guerre

Pierre Grande Guerre

New member
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Dear Friends,
Last friday the mrs. and I visited the place of exile of Kaiser Wilhelm II in the very small castle of Huis Doorn, The Netherlands. The last 22 years of his life he lived in the park of this castle and he is buried in a mausoleum some 100 yards right of the small castle.
The collection of the castle contains the 59 trainwagons Wilhelm was allowed to import between 1919 and 1920 with al kinds of personal stuff from his former 75 palaces.
The collection possesses all of the complete 650 uniforms of the Kaiser. Only three are displayed alas, as three personal Pickelhaube's.
It is not allowed to photograph in this museum. So, I bought myself some recently made postcards of uniforms and Pickelhaubes of the collection.
For personal purposes I scanned these full colour postcards in hte museumshop. Alas there was more to watch on the postcards than the museum displayed.

As some of you already know, I collect only selfmade photographs of the battlefields of the Western Front, and I am a curious but loyal outsider in this respected forum. So if someone of you is interested in viewing the scans of the postcards of a few uniforms and three pickelhaubes ( sigh! ALAS!), just post a reply and I will post them in the next reply.

May this post for one reason or another be displaced, please remove this message. No hard feelings.

Pierre GG

P.S. The postcards are protected and all copyrights are reserved by Coll. Kasteel Huis Doorn - Arts Unlimited 1992-2005, The Netherlands. I have printed this also on to the scans of the postcards.
 
Pierre GG,

I would definitely like to see the scans of the postcards. Photos of the Kaiser's wardrobe have been printed in some reference books, but he had so many that I am sure that we have not seen them all! Perhaps the postcards you have will show us some new variations.

By the way, I greatly enjoyed your website with the many photos of your explorations on the Western Front. These photos and your comments are valuable information for people like me, who do not have the opportunity to visit the battlefields. I know it takes a lot of time and effort to maintain such a website, but you are providing a very important service for historians and collectors.

Many thanks, and best regards,

 
Thanks, mr. 08/15!

I really do appreciate your observation, about the amount of work to maintain my website. But comments like yours and my passion for the Great War will fuel my curiosity for "new" spots to discover and share it with fellow afficionado's, even overseas , on my website.
Besides that I am an amateur and it is purely my hobby since 1986.

For now the pictures you have been waiting for. For now the Pickelhaubes. In the next reply some uniforms.

All rights are reserved by Coll. Kasteel Huis Doorn- Arts Unlimited, The Netherlands, 1992- 2005.

Enjoy!
Pierre GG

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This museum in Doorn seems well worth visiting. Can someone who has been there provide any info, such as:

1. How "viewable" are the militaria items? Are they pretty much up front, or stashed away in glass cabinets many feet away from the viewer? In other words, how close up can you get?

2. Are the curators fairly well-informed and expert in militaria, judging from the quality of their exhibition labels?

3. What are the chances of seeing the uniforms, etc. that are not on display? Many museums will let you see their "study collection" in the basement, if you write to them well in advance.

3. What is the best way to get to the museum? Any particular issues or tricks to keep in mind?

Many thanks!
 
@ 08/15.
I have seen only 4 uniforms on display with Pickelhaubes.
If you like to make contact to the museum about how to view the other uniforms go this website:

Huis Doorn, The Netherlands, http://www.huisdoorn.nl/index_oud.html , English version, try the Dutch page for the pictures.
Please don't mention these scans of me. :twisted:

Pierre
 
08/15 said:
This museum in Doorn seems well worth visiting. Can someone who has been there provide any info,/ etc etc
Click to expand...

I go to Doorn every time I go to Germany, as it is just a zip across the border. It is something everyone should see. Words cannot describe. As Pierre said, only the last photo is on display. I was there during a quiet time, and the answer was that they could not show me the uniforms, as they are behinds walls of trunks and boxes. They did get all excited when I said I was a Canadian and came all the way to visit Doorn, and they showed me some amazing things that visitors normally do not see, like Wilhelm's knife-fork combination, and sadly, his teeth, which he took out when he laid down for a snooze and died. They are still in the little box beside the bed, as is the rose his son placed there in 1941 when he arrived for the funeral.

Hanging on the wall in the dining room, without any plaque or anything pointing to it, is father, Fredrick III's 1870 EK1 in a frame. I must have stared at it for an hour.

I would not stay in Amsterdam again, a beautiful city ruined by mobs of drunk foreign tourists in my opinion. I will stay in Utrecht next time. Tony
 
@ Tony & Kaiser. Did you see the painting of the Kaiser in the diner room above the stove? It is from 1926. The Kaiser is dressed in full Feldgrau Field uniform with a fur collar, with the covered Pickelhaube in the right hand and the left shorter hand holding his gloves, resting on his sable.
He is still gazing and overseeing the battlefields of the Western Front. At least it looks like that to me, as if 11-11-1918 did not happen.
Next time try to study some of his books in his library, so is my humble advice. Very interesting!
The place still smells the scent of furnishing wax mixed with the smell 90 year old air.

Pierre GG
 
Excellent Pierre! :
I also enjoyed your web site very much and please continue to post on this forum. The childs highland outfit would of course, have been worn buy the Kaiser when he visited his "Granny" Queen Victoria at Balmoral. The uniform picrures clearly reaveal just how shortend the Kaiser' left arm was. I love to point out to my students how he continually rests his left hand on his sword hilt whenever we see him in period movies. This disability must have been the worst thing that could have happened to a man who wanted the world to see him as the ultimate war lord. However more to the point, I believe that the disability set him on a course by wich he was determined to prove that he was better than the next man. Brian
 
I always marveled at the arm thing. I have this large speia toned litho (probably 2'x3' with frame) that shows him using his arm. Picture and quote from my web site.
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Very large litho of Kaiser and son. What makes this different is the use of the Kaiser's left hand. Withered at birth, this litho shows it in full use. Very unusual. The entire arm thing was controversial. His mother, Vicky, blamed herself for a fall during pregnancy. The doctor was blamed for botching a breach birth and injuring the shoulder. Folks were vituperative and it was always someone else's fault. This propaganda litho showed the arm in full use while he could not raise it more than a few inches.
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Here is another pic posed to show no difference.
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Thanks for posting the pictures of the Kaiser's uniforms. I think it is quite telling that with the limited number of possessions that he could bring with him (considering all that he had), he chose to bring not one or two, but nearly all of his beloved uniforms.

Chip
 
I was watching The First World War on the Discovery Channel the other night and it was about the Eastern Front. There was some very good film in it including a scene of Kaiser Bill meeting some Austrian field marshal and he was actually gesturing with his left arm and moving it around. I knew that he usually took great pains to keep it from notice. Near the end of a clip some officer came up and put a huge overcoat over his shoulders like a cape and the arm was covered up.
 
@ B. Loree, JoeRookery and Chip Mink.

Thanks for your kind reactions.
As a kind of answer to Brian's encouraging words to post some topics more often, I posted another topic with recently selfmade pictures of the Mausoleum of the Kaiser.
I hope you do enjoy this contribution as much as you did with this one.
Click HERE (on the new adress).

Pierre GG
 
@ mike. Of course for you also thanx for your reaction about the movieclip of covering up the short arm. Can you be more specific where to find this footage, perhaps? I collect moving pictures of the period on VHS and DVD, be it documentaries or else.
Anyway thanks.
I hope you do also enjoy my latest contribution as much as you did with this one.
Click here: http://www.pickelhaubes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=11801#11801 .


Pierre GG
 
Pierre Grande Guerre said:
@ mike. Of course for you also thanx for your reaction about the movieclip of covering up the short arm. Can you be more specific where to find this footage, perhaps? I collect moving pictures of the period on VHS and DVD, be it documentaries or else.
Anyway thanks.
I hope you do also enjoy my latest contribution as much as you did with this one.
Click here: http://www.pickelhaubes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=11801#11801 .


Pierre GG
Click to expand...
Pierre,

The film clip was part of a documentary series currently on television here in the USA. It's called The First World War based on the book by Hew Strachan. The clip I mentioned was in episode 5, The Eastern Front.

The DVD is available for purchase from The Discovery Channel at

http://shopping.discovery.com/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?endecaSID=10C0685C74CD&langId=-1&storeId=10000&productId=59483&catalogId=10000

and it's also on eBay, for a little less cost, at

http://cgi.ebay.com/THE-FIRST-WORLD-WAR-COMPLETE-SERIES-4-Disc-Set-DVD_W0QQitemZ9149443391QQcategoryZ617QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

:D
 
Thanks a lot, Mike! Very usefull tip for me! I have Strachan's book in my library, be it in a Dutch translation. Now I know where to spend my money next time, when the mrs. allows me. :D

Pierre GG
 
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