EX-KAISER’S RESIDENCE

Evening Star, Issue 22720, 6 August 1937, Page 14

EX-KAISER’S RESIDENCE

TO BE A MUSEUM* Tiie Acliilleion on Corfu, originally built on the site of the Villa Braila for the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and later owned by Kaiser Wilhelm 11,, is now to be converted into a museum. The Empress Elisabeth, after the terrible tragedy of Mayerling, was trying to find some retreat in a spot on the Mediterranean, and during a cruise found that the view' from the Villa Braila on the Island of Corfu was the most restful she had yet seen. She therefor© ashed the Italian architect, Carito, to build her* 1 ' a villa in Italian Itenaissance style. The original furnishing of the Achilleion revealed the classical and poetical interests of the Austrian Empress, and in the garden, with its rich southern vegetation and shady walks, she ordered a statue of the Dying Achilles, and also a monument in honour of her favourite poet, Henrich Heine. In 1907 Kaiser Wilhelm 11. took over the palace, and next to the dying hero placed a statue of the living Achilles, while Heine’s statue was removed. The changes inside the palace also showed that the villa of a gentle, melancholy soul had now passed into the hands of •a martial ruler. The chair at the desk, for example, was replaced by a rocking saddle. ■ During the war the Acliilleion was a hospital for the Serbian Army who sought refuge in Corfu after the defeat of 1915. During the republican days it was used as a. show place for tourists, and .some years ago the hotel inn anger, Martinet, intended to convert it into a hotel and a gambling casino. Last year it was hoped that the house might lie used once more as a royal residence, but when it became evident that King George did not wish to live at the Acliilleion, the authorities decided to convert it into a museum. The present museum in Corfu is not very large, and undoubtedly its valuable contents would gain a great deal if they were to bo moved to tbe rooms of the Achilleion.