Huis Doorn

Huis Doorn, Dutch Huis Doorn, is a small castle in Doorn, a village in the Dutch municipality of Utrecht Ridge. It was since 1920 the exile of the former German Emperor Wilhelm II Wilhelm died on 4 June 1941 in Doorn and was buried in a mausoleum in the park. Today Huis Doorn is a museum.

History of building and park

Huis Doorn was mentioned as a manor in the year 838 for the first time. In the 13th century a small moated castle, which was built in the 15th and 16th century and rebuilt arose. In the 18th century the castle was given its present form. The three-winged building is one of five to six window bays and has a small courtyard. The garden is decorated with a small round tower. The whole, of a rectangular trench umflossene building is constructed of brick. Also points to the courtyard, while the garden facade is slurried white. The basic equipment of the interior dates from the 19th century.

As chancellor, Max von Baden on 9 November 1918 arbitrarily announced the abdication of the Kaiser, Wilhelm II was at Spa at the Hotel Britannique, the seat of the GHQ. William took out his deposition and went on 10 November across the border into the neutral Netherlands. First, he lived as a guest of Count Godard Bentinck at Castle Amerongen, from where he resigned on 28 November. In 1919, William acquired the neighboring Doorn the castle of Baroness Heemstra de Beaufort and had it until 1920, get ready for himself and his family.

As part of the House of Hohenzollern prince severance indeed lost almost all of its 70 castles in Germany, but William could be come the most important personal family to Doom; total of 59 freight cars with furniture, artwork and memories it should have been. In just a dozen rooms are located to this day works of art mainly from the 18th century to the 19th century. Modern art rejected Wilhelm.

At Huis Doorn, Wilhelm had to add a neo- medieval gatehouse and create a rose garden. The house is surrounded by 35 -hectare castle park, which merges into the neighboring forest. The extensive gardens were the main reason for buying Doorn for the imperial couple. William's favorite sporting pastime in Doorn was the wood saws and chop. The wood was distributed at Christmas time to the poorer population of Doorn.

In exile in Doorn the abdicated Emperor spent the remaining 21 years of his life. As William neither buried in foreign earth, nor ever wanted to return to a republican Germany, a mausoleum for him has been erected in the park.

After the end of World War II, the Dutch State House Doorn settled in as a German enemy property. In 1953 he transferred the building and equipment of the Dutch ' Foundation for the management of Doom House ". The Foundation will receive museum and park " in the historical context of the imperial exile ".

Museum

Huis Doorn and the park are open to the public; for the museum ( in the actual house Doorn ) you paid for admission. You enter the park through a portal building. Huis Doorn itself includes works of art and artifacts of William and reported here by the stately inhabitants. Huis Doorn is a complete castle with royal household in the small, with separate wings for the prince and his wife, with dining room, Audience Room, Office of the Adjutant and large kitchen, with Castle Park and Mausoleum. The condition of the house largely corresponds to that which it has upon William's death in 1941 had. One learns how the former Emperor and his first and second wife lived there as they surrounded by memories, held court and awaited the restoration of the monarchy. To see include the painting of the coronation of the Elector Frederick III. of Brandenburg as the first King in Prussia, paintings of Friends of Frederick the Great of Sanssouci, the snuff boxes of the same collection, Letters of Queen Victoria, watercolors of Norwegian fjords, etc.