The last German emperor – William II. (Wilhelm II.) Of the Hohenzollern dynasty, died June 4, 1941. Many people know his role in starting and leading the First World War, which is why he has remained infamous to this day. Despite the millions of human casualties in that war, the German Empire lost, and William II. he had to abdicate and even leave Germany. He went to the neighboring Netherlands where he was granted asylum and settled in Doorn Castle not far from Utrecht. He lived there for the last 22 years of his life, until his death in 1941.
Of course, in 1941, when old Kaiser died, Adolf Hitler ruled in Germany and was about to attack the USSR. Indeed, William II. he died only 18 days before the German invasion of the USSR (the famous Operation Barbarossa).
Hitler’s attitude towards Kaiser was interesting. Namely, Hitler sometimes used the imperial family for propaganda purposes, but by no means wanted to help that dynasty return to power in Germany. Of course, the reason was that it would diminish his power, which he was unwilling to share with the Hohenzollerns. For example, when Kaiser died in the Netherlands, Hitler was furious when he learned that German troops had been sent there to guard the honor guard for the deceased. On the contrary, Hitler threatened to fire the German general who had ordered it (the whole of the Netherlands was under the occupation of the Third Reich at the time).
Still, Hitler wanted the body of the late Kaiser to be ceremoniously buried in Berlin, as this would be an appropriate symbol of the death of the old Reich and the transfer of power to his Third Reich. However, Kaiser’s wish before his death was not to bury him in Germany until the monarchy was restored to it. So Kaiser was eventually buried in the Netherlands, next to Doorn Castle where he died. The Emperor’s wish was also that swastikas and other Nazi symbols should not be displayed during the funeral, but this was not respected. Kaiser’s body still lies in the mausoleum next to Doorn Castle in the Netherlands.
