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25-458: Augusta Victoria was born at Dolzig Castle, the eldest daughter of Frederick VIII , future Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , and Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , a niece of Queen Victoria , through Victoria's half-sister Feodora . She grew up at Dolzig until the death of her grandfather, Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , in 1869. The family then moved to Castle Primkenau and

50-444: A different dress than the one Victoria recommended, that she would not be riding to get her figure back after childbirth as Wilhelm had no intention of stopping at one son, and informing her that Augusta's daughter, Viktoria, was not named after her (though, again, in her memoirs, Viktoria Luise states that she was named after both her grandmother and her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria ). Augusta and her mother-in-law grew closer for

75-518: A few years when Wilhelm became emperor, as Augusta was often lonely while he was away on military exercises and turned to her mother-in-law for the companionship of rank, although she never left her children alone with her lest they be influenced by her well-known liberalism . Nevertheless, the two were often seen riding in a carriage together. Augusta was at Victoria's bedside when she died of breast cancer in 1901. Augusta also had less than cordial relationships with some of Wilhelm's sisters, particularly

100-568: A great epoch , the conclusion of which forever divorces them from their maternal country and enshrines Augusta Victoria as a venerable saint and symbol of a Germany long past. Dolzig Dłużek [ˈdwuʐɛk] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Lubsko , within Żary County , Lubusz Voivodeship , in western Poland. It lies approximately 3 kilometres (2 mi) south-west of Lubsko , 21 km (13 mi) north-west of Żary , and 44 km (27 mi) south-west of Zielona Góra . This Żary County location article

125-870: A liking to Hermine's company, they had much in common and got married on 5 November 1922. Hermine lived in Huis Doorn with Wilhelm in his exile until his death in 1941. She then returned to Germany and after her death, she was also interred in the Antique Temple in Potsdam due to being Wilhelm's second wife. Hermine undertook the property management of Huis Doorn, and in 1927 she wrote her autobiographical book An Empress in Exile: My Days in Doorn . In 1931 and 1932, there were meetings with Hermann Göring . The audiences did not go well, and Wilhelm developed

150-493: A result of which she was overprotective of him for the rest of his life, believing that he was too delicate. Evidently, so did Emperor Wilhelm; he wrote to his mother that if the baby had died, Sophie would have murdered it. In 1920, the shock of exile and abdication, combined with the breakdown of Joachim's marriage and his subsequent suicide, proved too much for Augusta's health. She died in 1921, in Huis Doorn at Doorn in

175-521: A severe disliking for Göring. Wilhelm was known for anti-Semitic views; however, he did have close Jewish friends like Walther Rathenau , and was outraged by the Kristallnacht . In 1938, Wilhelm's grandson, Prince Louis Ferdinand , was married to Grand Duchess Kira of Russia , in Huis Doorn. Thirty members of royal families attended the ceremony; however, Queen Wilhelmina sent her daughter Princess Juliana . On 10 May 1940, Germany invaded

200-476: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Huis Doorn Huis Doorn ( Dutch pronunciation: [ɦœyz ˈdoːr(ə)n] ; English: House Doorn ) is a manor house and national museum in the town of Doorn in the Netherlands . The residence has early 20th-century interiors from the time when former German Emperor Wilhelm II resided there (1919–1941). Huis Doorn was first built in

225-525: Is reflected upon in the novel by Katherine Anne Porter , Ship of Fools . In it, a German passenger silently reminisces on the funeral and its cinematic showing to a small colony of Germans living abroad in Mexico and describes the outpouring of public grief that was seen within that community. Augusta Victoria's passing is viewed among Germans who lived through the First World War as the ending of

250-520: The 13th century. It was rebuilt in the 14th century, after it was destroyed. It was again rebuilt in the 19th century to its present-day form. The gardens were designed in the 19th century. After World War I , Wilhelm II bought the house, where he lived in exile from 1920 until his death in 1941. He is buried in a coffin within a mausoleum in the gardens. After the German occupation in World War II ,

275-458: The Great . In June each year, a devoted band of German monarchists still come to pay their respects and lay wreaths, accompanied by marchers in period uniforms and representatives from modern monarchist organisations, such as Tradition und Leben of Cologne. The house became a national heritage site or rijksmonument in 1997. In 2014, Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia filed a claim on

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300-647: The Netherlands . Wilhelm had been offered asylum in Great Britain; however, he refused to take up the offer. On 14 May, the Wehrmacht arrived at Huis Doorn; however, Wilhelm and his household would remain undisturbed. German officers were forbidden to enter his estate, and Wilhelm would remain under guard in his estate during the occupation. Wilhelm II died of a pulmonary embolism at Huis Doorn, on 4 June 1941, with German occupation soldiers on guard at

325-720: The Netherlands. Wilhelm, still reeling over the same losses, was devastated by her death. The Weimar Republic allowed her remains to be transported back to Germany, where they still lie in the Temple of Antiquities , not far from the New Palace, Potsdam. Because he was not permitted to enter Germany, Wilhelm could accompany his wife on her last journey only as far as the German border. She was buried in Antique Temple , Sanssouci Park , Potsdam , Germany . Augusta gave birth to seven children by Wilhelm II: The funeral of Augusta Victoria

350-466: The Prussian government and Augusta's father. In the end, Wilhelm's intransigence, the support of Bismarck, and a determination to move beyond the rejection of his proposal to Ella, led the reluctant imperial family to give official consent. Augusta was known as "Dona" within the family. She had a somewhat lukewarm relationship with her mother-in-law, Victoria , who had hoped that Dona would help to heal

375-484: The estate her father had inherited. She was known within her family as Dona . On 27 February 1881, Augusta married her half-second cousin Prince Wilhelm of Prussia . Augusta's maternal grandmother Princess Feodora of Leiningen was the half-sister of Queen Victoria , who was Wilhelm's maternal grandmother. Wilhelm had earlier proposed to his first cousin, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (known in

400-406: The family as "Ella"), a daughter of his mother's own sister, but she declined. He did not react well, and was adamant that he would soon marry another princess. Wilhelm's family was originally against the marriage with Augusta Victoria, whose father was not even a sovereign. However, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was a strong proponent of the marriage, believing that it would end the dispute between

425-431: The gates of his estate. He lies in a maroon-coloured coffin, above the ground, in a small mausoleum in the gardens, to await his return to Germany upon the restoration of the Prussian monarchy, according to the terms of his will. His wish that no swastikas be displayed at his funeral was not heeded. Five of Wilhelm's beloved dachshunds are buried in the park. A marker is dedicated to the memory of his dog, Senta , who

450-502: The house was seized by the Dutch government as enemy property. Huis Doorn is now a national museum and a national heritage site . The interior of the house has not been changed since Wilhelm II died. Every year in June, German monarchists come to Doorn to pay their respects to the emperor. In 2019, the museum had 54,000 visitors. The original structure was built in the 13th century, but

475-504: The matured landscape as the years progressed. Hence he was called by his enemies "The Woodchopper of Doorn". His first wife, Augusta nicknamed Dona , died at Huis Doorn 11 April 1921 and her body was taken back to Potsdam in Germany , where she was buried in the Antique Temple . The funeral ceremony took place in Doorn. In January 1922, Wilhelm invited the widowed princess Hermine of Greiz and her young son to Huis Doorn. He took

500-466: The mother of actress Audrey Hepburn , spent much of her childhood living in the house. The property was purchased for 500,000 guilders in 1919 by Wilhelm II , the last German Emperor ( German : Kaiser ), as his residence-in-exile (1920–1941), following his abdication after World War I . Wilhelm's asylum in the Netherlands was based on family ties with Queen Wilhelmina ; however, Wilhelmina always refused to meet Wilhelm. During his years in exile, he

525-651: The recently married Crown Princess Sophie of Greece . In 1890, when Sophie announced her intention to convert to Greek Orthodoxy, Dona summoned her and told her that if she did so, not only would Wilhelm find it unacceptable as the head of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces , but she would be barred from Germany and her soul would end up in Hell. Sophie replied that it was her business whether or not she did. Augusta became hysterical and gave birth prematurely to her son, Prince Joachim , as

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550-516: The rift between herself and Wilhelm; this was not to be the case. The empress was also annoyed that the title of head of the Red Cross went to Dona, who had no nursing or charity experience or inclination (though in her memoirs, Princess Viktoria Luise paints a different picture, stating that her mother loved charity work). Augusta often took pleasure in snubbing her mother-in-law, usually small incidents, such as telling her that she would be wearing

575-635: Was a favourite of Wilhelm and died in 1927 at the age of 20. The Dutch government seized the manor house and its household contents in May 1945 and, since then, many new trees have been planted and the wooded parkland is being returned to its earlier state. Huis Doorn opened its doors as a historic house museum in 1956. It is presented just as Wilhelm left it, with marquetry commodes , tapestries, paintings by German court painters, porcelains and silver. The collection also includes Wilhelm's collections of snuffboxes and uniforms that had belonged to Frederick

600-421: Was allowed to travel freely within a 10-kilometre radius of his house, but journeys farther than that meant that advance notice had to be given to a local government official. As he disliked having to kowtow to a minor official, he rarely journeyed beyond the "free" limit. The former Emperor regularly exercised by chopping down many of the estate's trees, splitting the logs into stacks of firewood, thereby denuding

625-441: Was destroyed and rebuilt in the 14th century. It was again rebuilt in the late 18th century in a conservative manner and yet again, in the mid-19th century. A park which surrounds the building was laid out as what the Dutch describe as an English landscape garden at the start of the 19th century, but later adjusted by Wilhelm and others to add features including areas of woodland garden . Baroness Ella van Heemstra (1900–1984),

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