EX-KAISER IN EXILE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21118, 27 February 1932, Page 2 (Supplement)

EX-KAISER IN EXILE.

TENOR OF LIFE AT DOORN. " "ENFEEBLED MAN." DESIRE TO GO TO GERMANY. iv mild bronchitis attack. ; Much mystery lias recently surrounded the doings of the ex-Kaiser in Lia exile qt Doom, Holland. There «have . been 'reports thai, he desired l-o return to Germany, and aLso that he has been seriously . Tho Daily Mail, in its issues of January 16 and 18. revealed the facts in messages from its sjVcial correspondent, vfho was then at Doom. He said:— Everything is hushed and quiet around the Castlo of Doorii. There was no Christinas celebrations there and, on January 27, when liie ex-Kaiser celebrates h}e 73rd birthday, there will be none of .the usual .rejoicings or gatjiernigs of fervid Nationalist adherents. .The ex-Kaiser was a strong and vigorous man whqu, over 13 years ago, he drove at the dead of night into exile f cross the Dutch frontier. Now ho is - changed heyojid l*elief. He is an old & Hhd enfeebled man. Though, like all tho Mohenzollerßs, ho maintains a dignified bearing, his- face is heavily lined and .. bis eyes are deep-sunk over projecting 3? cheek bones. The former Emperor h;d been under ;■ dose medical observation even before a V chill forced him to tako to his room at r tlho end of December. The illness has developed into a mild form of bronchitis and calls for careful -treatment. Recovery % depends largely on the weather. Many t weeks have passed since ho was last seen walking through, the village of Doom with his wife,, Brineess Hermine, and H .members .of his staff. Even his after»i noon outings in the small park round the J; manor-house have been few. Many Anxious Questions. *y , While tlie ex-Kaiser was concerned v* over the illness of his favourite sister, 5v the Dowager Queen Sophia of Greece, II «nd shocked at the news of her death s. on January 13 —she was 12 years younger than he—his principal anxiety has been J to know whether he could seize this * opportunity to return to Germany. .</ .'For many months, it is learned, the ex-Emperor has eagerly questioned visitors from Germany as to the state of opinion there, and the probable situation if he '■ wers to return. Their answers were di- , verse, but the idea of returning was fixed ■ in his mind. A few* weeks ago he caused J unofficial inquiries to be made in Holland * altitude of the Dutch Governi£:he 'wefe. toCrpss the frontier. He same indirect way, the evasive answer that he must " take tho responsibility for such a move himself." It was pointed out that the Dutch Government lias no right to control the

movements of the ex-Kaiser, who is free t : o leave the country at any moment. But it could refuse to allow him to reenter the country. ,The illness of Queen Sophia provided .•'•.suitable opportunity for a dash by "motor-car—Doom *is one hour's drive •from the frontier—toiFrankfort, and her approaching .funeral could also have been used as 'a pretext. But then there came earnings from- Germany that Frankfort was not--6a£e, ; and -that thero might be incidents on the road. Close Scrutiny of Visitors. Princess Hermine, the ex-Kaiser's wife, is in loyal attendance on her husband, and carc is now taken to keep all visitors away. The polico at the great red-brick entrance, keep the huge iron-studded doors closed. Even errand boys are subjected to "the "closest- scrutiny before they ars allowed to deliver tlweir goods at a lodge on thfe left of the drive. The ex-Kaiser is reputed to be one of the richest Germans living, and probably the largest, landowner in Germany. He has also acquired considerable property in the neighbourhood of Doom. The local authorities arc delighted to find that he now pays his rates and taxes as regularly as any other lord of the manor, for when he first came to Doom he pleaded poverty and did not pay. But since his affairs were settled up by the German Government, and his property lights restored to him,- he has paid up all arrears, .. .. ■

The ex-Kaiser has very little contact, even when he is in good health, with the local Dutch population. Though the villagers have none of the natural prejudice against him which animates the exAllied. nations, yet they have neither affection nor pity for him. Ho Raising of Hats When the exiled monarch of tlio past goes out the Dutch folk look at him curiously, but they do not raise their hats or show him any other sign of respect. People at Doom have declared that they would hear with relief of his departure for Germany or some other land. They admitted that such a move was most unlikely, but they did not dwell with satisfaction on his continued residence in their inidst. The ex-Kaiser, though ho has apparently given up hope for the present of to Germany as her richest private citizen, does not abandon any of his royal and imperial claims, and insists on severe etiquette being observed in all dealings with all his former subjects. Though Wilhelm has behaved quite generously in the matter of settlements to Princess Hcrmine, his second wife, whom he married in 1921, and though he permits the visits of her children by her marriage and her close relatives, there is one thing which he obstinately refuses. Princess Ilermine would like to bo treated with the homage and courtesy due to an empress, but the ex-Kaiser, with equal determination, refuses to allow this. Flying into a Violent Rage. When on one occasion, at Princess Hermine's wish, some of her husband's German guests addressed her as " Imperial Majesty," he flew into a violent rage and ordered the Court Chamberlain to dismiss them from attendance at Doom immediately and sec that they were never invited there again. Wilhelm doe 3 not appear to mourn defeat, though occasionally he expresses the opinion that the faulty actions of his Ministers and generals, and tho ignorance in which they kept him of events, was the real cause of his downfall and of Germany's defeat. Sometimes it is the mystical side of his character which is uppermost, and he quotes long passages from tho Old Testament—passages which he reads on Sundays in the little Lutheran chapel in the castle grounds in an endeavour to fchow that he is an innocent victim. But for the most part, until recently at'least, tho ex-Kaiser has lived more in the present than in the future. He has been extraordinarily interested in German politics, and the castle's many telephone lines, linked with Doom post-office and with the main trunk lines at Doom, busy for' many hours. When he is well tho ex-Kaiser spends two hours every morning and an hour in the evening with his chief personal secretary going through telephoned messages and letters; but now, dull and listless and suffering from bronchitis . which followed the cold he caught at Christinas, ho has abandoned the hope which seemed so bright to him of returning to Germany. Telephone and telegraph messages, despatches and scores of letter are piling up unread.