gjw Posted March 24, 2007 Posted March 24, 2007 Hi all, just was curious, does anyone know where the ODM of Wilhelm II are? Are they with the family or at Doon?Thanks!!!Greg
Daniel Cole Posted March 24, 2007 Posted March 24, 2007 (edited) I believe they are at Burg Hohenzollern in Hechingen, Germany. I was there on several occasions and they have a fabluous collection of decorations belonging to the von Hohenzollerns. Definately Wilhelm I, and I think Wilhelm II also as I recall. Well worth a visitm but off the beaten tourist route. Hechingen is south of Stuttgart about an hour.Dan Edited March 24, 2007 by Daniel Cole
Great Dane Posted March 25, 2007 Posted March 25, 2007 Remember that high ranking persons had several sets (or subsets) of their decorations to be used on different occasions.One set belonging to Wilhelm II was sold at the latest Thies auction:/Mike
gjw Posted March 25, 2007 Author Posted March 25, 2007 Thanks Mike, nice bar!! and good picture of the Kaiser, how much did the bar go for if you know?Greg
Great Dane Posted March 25, 2007 Posted March 25, 2007 That bar went for a whopping hammer price of 63000 Euros... Now add the fees etc. ... /Mike
gjw Posted March 25, 2007 Author Posted March 25, 2007 (edited) That bar went for a whopping hammer price of 63000 Euros... Now add the fees etc. ... /MikeWOW!! Do you think they threw in the picture for free?Greg Edited March 25, 2007 by gjw
Wild Card Posted March 25, 2007 Posted March 25, 2007 Gentlemen,You might be interested to know that the Kaiser Wilhelm group shown in post #3 is part of a what was known as The Kaiser Wilhelm Collection which was bought jointly by George Seymour and another collector at Sotheby?s auction in Geneva in 1995. Several other pieces from this collection have been sold in recent Thies auctions; most notably the Princely Hohenzollern 1st class cross with swords and the Saxe Weimar grand cross with swords star.Below is a portion of the collection relative to our discussion. This picture is taken from ?Kaiser Wilhelm II, The Adventures of His Orders and Medals? by Michael Forman.Regards,Wild Card 2
Wild Card Posted March 25, 2007 Posted March 25, 2007 Below are two more views of the group under discussion, again from Mr. Foreman?s publication. Relative to Great Dane?s observation (?...high ranking persons had several sets (or subsets) of their decorations to be used on different occasions.?), this is an excellent point worthy of another discussion; I think that I should point out that the picture shown was chosen because it shows The Kaiser wearing this particular bar. I am further quite sure that it was taken after his abdication.One of the really interesting things about this group is the fact that a number of the decorations are special, or prinzen/reduction, pieces.
VtwinVince Posted March 26, 2007 Posted March 26, 2007 Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't alot of the Foreman collection loaned for filming of the 1970's series The Fall of Eagles?
Wild Card Posted March 26, 2007 Posted March 26, 2007 Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't alot of the Foreman collection loaned for filming of the 1970's series The Fall of Eagles?Yes! now that you mention it, I do seem to recall this as being correct.
Mike Dwyer Posted March 26, 2007 Posted March 26, 2007 Well, I see the Kaiser had good taste and liked Godet too!
Wild Card Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Since this subject came up, I have been digging through some of George?s archives and managed to come up with a little more information. Yes, he (Wilhelm II) did seem to like Godet. Below are a couple of pictures, from the archives, one of which shows a Godet plate on the reverse of The Kaiser?s Black Eagle star. There is a story related to this in Mr. Foreman?s publication where he shows a Picture of Wilhelm II at the time of his father?s death in 1888. It is noted that ?It was quite normal and natural for The Kaiser to wear his father?s (Brilliant-Cut) star as a new one would have taken considerable time to manufacture, from time to time the Star would be sent to the Crown Jewelers for cleaning and repair. In 1911, or later, the centre plate was replaced with the Crown Jewelers center plate?.There is also a picture of Wilhelm?s body lyung in state after his death in 1941 which clearly shows this star upon his uniform.
Wild Card Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 While we are at it, here are a couple pictures of the, make that THE grand cross with crown to the Order of the Red Eagle.
Wild Card Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Reverse. What? Why, to prevent soiling to His Majesty?s uniform.
saschaw Posted January 21, 2022 Posted January 21, 2022 What an amazing thread! Thanks for the pictures, Wild Card. I do not have the mentioned Forman book, so I'm very grateful to have a chance to see these treasures from time to time. One thing that has bothered me for a long time, however, is the Zähringer Lion commander's breast star. Could this one really be the Kaiser's? He was awarded the Hausorden der Treue back in 1877 (Volle, p. 108), which would be accompanied by a Zähringer Lion en sautoir Grand Cross badge. Back then, the young Prince, according to Wikipedia, held the rank of Oberleutnant, while the Zähringer Lion commander 1st class set is an award usually given to the rank of Generalmajor or Generalleutnant (Volle, p. 175). Also, I don't think the lower Zähringer Lion grades were given to royalty at all... ?! Maybe someone could and would verify the not-yet-Kaiser in a pre-1877 rank list, please?
VtwinVince Posted January 21, 2022 Posted January 21, 2022 Good that this topic has been revived. Does anyone know what actually remains on display at Huis Doorn these days? I saw a video of the collection back in the '80's which was quite astonishing.
laurentius Posted January 21, 2022 Posted January 21, 2022 1 hour ago, VtwinVince said: Good that this topic has been revived. Does anyone know what actually remains on display at Huis Doorn these days? I saw a video of the collection back in the '80's which was quite astonishing. I went there last november, only the medals of Empress Auguste Victoria were on display (not to downplay these marvellous pieces ofcourse). Nothing of the emporer, apart from five uniforms. All other items were stored somewhere in a 'safe' location. Kind regards, Laurentius
VtwinVince Posted January 22, 2022 Posted January 22, 2022 Thanks for the update. The manner in which the collection was housed back then was quite remarkable, with priceless artefacts literally piled into closets.
Carol I Posted January 23, 2022 Posted January 23, 2022 On 21/01/2022 at 18:02, VtwinVince said: Good that this topic has been revived. Does anyone know what actually remains on display at Huis Doorn these days? I saw a video of the collection back in the '80's which was quite astonishing. The collection is interesting, but in terms of ODMs on display it is rather disappointing (or it was in 2017). But things like these are probably also somewhere in the inventory...
Bayern Posted January 23, 2022 Posted January 23, 2022 In the Huis Doorn were at least in 1993 many uniforms of William II mostly of the 1915 Kunftige Friedensuniform pattern that is basically Field Grey with coloured cuffs and collars & bright buttons
Carol I Posted January 23, 2022 Posted January 23, 2022 5 hours ago, Bayern said: In the Huis Doorn were at least in 1993 many uniforms of William II mostly of the 1915 Kunftige Friedensuniform pattern that is basically Field Grey with coloured cuffs and collars & bright buttons Still on display in the former garage:
Bayern Posted January 24, 2022 Posted January 24, 2022 Those were ! but they were more and displayed into a more luminous room . Thank You !
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