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| Wilhelm I of Germany |
(1797-1888)
King of Prussia
1861-1888
German Emperor
1871-1888.
Husband of: Augusta von Sachsen-Weimar.
Wilhelm I's premarital & extra-marital affairs.
"Rohl provides the fullest account of Wilhelm's premarital and extra-marital affairs: the relationship with 'Miss Love' (Emilie Klopp) which started before and continued after Wilhelm's marriage, and the relatively brief affairs with Ella Sommssich, Anna Homolatsch, and Countess Elisabeth von Wedel-Berard, conducted after her marriage. Wilhelm was indiscreet, came to be blackmailed, and needed the help of Herbert and Bill von Bismarck, Ambassador Henry VII Reuss, and Count Waldersee to get him out of trouble. . . ." (Canadian Journal of History)
German actress.
" . . . As a young man, Wilhelm I . . . had an affair with a Berlin actress, Edwine Viereck, by whom a son was born. In order to shield his royal master, von Prillwitz acknowledged the child as his own, thus proving loyalty as an illegitimate member of the Hohenzollern family. At the racetrack, von Prillwitz took great interest in young Elisabeth among the wealthy and socially prominent attendees and made certain she met several of his choice." (The Kaiser’s Confidante: 106)
"George Viereck was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria, to a German father and American-born mother. His father Louis, born out of wedlock to German actress Edwina Viereck, was reputed to be a son of Kaiser Wilhelm I. Another relative of the Hohenzollern family assumed legal paternity of the boy. In the 1870s, Louis Viereck joined the Marxist socialist movement. George Viereck began writing poetry when he was eleven. His heroes were Jesus Christ, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Oscar Wilde. In 1896, Louis Viereck emigrated to the United States; his U.S.-born wife Laura and their twelve-year-old son George followed in 1897." (Wikipedia)
"[George] Viereck's father was the result of a liaison between Kaiser Wilhelm I and Edwina Viereck, an actress who was called the most beautiful woman in Europe. In his room at the Hotel Bellecaire, Viereck kept a marble bust of his grandmother which did justice to her fame. Because of this kinship, Viereck was customarily addressed as 'cousin' by Kaiser Wilhelm II and other members of European royalty. . . ." (The New Ensign)
"Viereck’s father, George Sylvester Viereck, known as Sylvester, or G.S.V., was the embodiment of much that Viereck loathed. He was a features writer for the Hearst newspaper syndicate, and had once been considered a promising lyric poet. (In 1907, when Sylvester was twenty-three, the Times reported that his poems had “awakened the profound interest of two continents.”) He was also an admirer of Germany, his birthplace, and, in particular, of Kaiser Wilhelm, in part because he believed himself to be a grandson of the Kaiser’s grandfather, Wilhelm I of Prussia, via an assignation with a Berlin actress named Edwina Viereck. Edwina’s son, Louis, became a socialist and a friend of Karl Marx. He was imprisoned several times for his political activities; once, he was implicated in a plot to assassinate his father. In 1881, he married an American cousin (Friedrich Engels attended the wedding), and Sylvester was born in Munich three years later. In 1896, the family emigrated to New York City." (The New Yorker)
Wilhelm I's lovers were:
Edwine Viereck.German actress.
" . . . As a young man, Wilhelm I . . . had an affair with a Berlin actress, Edwine Viereck, by whom a son was born. In order to shield his royal master, von Prillwitz acknowledged the child as his own, thus proving loyalty as an illegitimate member of the Hohenzollern family. At the racetrack, von Prillwitz took great interest in young Elisabeth among the wealthy and socially prominent attendees and made certain she met several of his choice." (The Kaiser’s Confidante: 106)
"George Viereck was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria, to a German father and American-born mother. His father Louis, born out of wedlock to German actress Edwina Viereck, was reputed to be a son of Kaiser Wilhelm I. Another relative of the Hohenzollern family assumed legal paternity of the boy. In the 1870s, Louis Viereck joined the Marxist socialist movement. George Viereck began writing poetry when he was eleven. His heroes were Jesus Christ, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Oscar Wilde. In 1896, Louis Viereck emigrated to the United States; his U.S.-born wife Laura and their twelve-year-old son George followed in 1897." (Wikipedia)
"[George] Viereck's father was the result of a liaison between Kaiser Wilhelm I and Edwina Viereck, an actress who was called the most beautiful woman in Europe. In his room at the Hotel Bellecaire, Viereck kept a marble bust of his grandmother which did justice to her fame. Because of this kinship, Viereck was customarily addressed as 'cousin' by Kaiser Wilhelm II and other members of European royalty. . . ." (The New Ensign)
"Viereck’s father, George Sylvester Viereck, known as Sylvester, or G.S.V., was the embodiment of much that Viereck loathed. He was a features writer for the Hearst newspaper syndicate, and had once been considered a promising lyric poet. (In 1907, when Sylvester was twenty-three, the Times reported that his poems had “awakened the profound interest of two continents.”) He was also an admirer of Germany, his birthplace, and, in particular, of Kaiser Wilhelm, in part because he believed himself to be a grandson of the Kaiser’s grandfather, Wilhelm I of Prussia, via an assignation with a Berlin actress named Edwina Viereck. Edwina’s son, Louis, became a socialist and a friend of Karl Marx. He was imprisoned several times for his political activities; once, he was implicated in a plot to assassinate his father. In 1881, he married an American cousin (Friedrich Engels attended the wedding), and Sylvester was born in Munich three years later. In 1896, the family emigrated to New York City." (The New Yorker)
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| Elisa Radziwill, 1835 |
Elisa Radziwill (1803-1834)
Also known as Elzbieta, Princess Radziwill.
Daughter of: Prince Anton Radziwill & Luise von Preussen.
"In the middle of June 1820, on the occasion of the Prince’s birthday, the Radziwiłł family came to stay for a few days at Schloss Freienwalde near Berlin. The castle had been specially built in 1798 for Queen Friederike Luise, but had stood empty since her death. Sometime later Wilhelm (ill. 1) also arrived there with his two brothers. Here Wilhelm and Elisa experienced the happiest days of their lives and declared their love for one other. Back in Berlin, Wilhelm was seen coming out of the Radziwiłł Palace in Wilhelmstraße almost every day. Disturbed by the public rumours that his 24-year old son was making advances to the 16-year old daughter of Prince Radziwiłł, the King consulted his advisers." (Porta Polonica)
"In the middle of June 1820, on the occasion of the Prince’s birthday, the Radziwiłł family came to stay for a few days at Schloss Freienwalde near Berlin. The castle had been specially built in 1798 for Queen Friederike Luise, but had stood empty since her death. Sometime later Wilhelm (ill. 1) also arrived there with his two brothers. Here Wilhelm and Elisa experienced the happiest days of their lives and declared their love for one other. Back in Berlin, Wilhelm was seen coming out of the Radziwiłł Palace in Wilhelmstraße almost every day. Disturbed by the public rumours that his 24-year old son was making advances to the 16-year old daughter of Prince Radziwiłł, the King consulted his advisers." (Porta Polonica)
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| Wilhelm II of Germany @Wikipedia |
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| William II of Germany |
(1859-1941)
German Emperor
King of Prussia
Also known as:
born Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Preussen
Son of Friedrich III of Germany & Victoria of Great Britain
Husband of Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, mar 1881
Wilhelm II's lovers were:
1) Anna Homolatsch.
Lover in 1885.
German courtier, writer & courtesan.
Also known as:
born Wilhelmine Emilie Elisabeth Berard
Elisabeth von Wedel-Berard.
Wife of: Hermann von Wedel, Prussian Governor of Alsace-Lorraine, mar 1879, div 1884.
First encounter -- 1884.
"Elisabeth Berard got to know Prince Wilhelm in 1884 in the course of some bizarre negotiations between the Austrian Archduke Carl Salvator and the German General Staff under Waldersee for the patent rights of a repeater rifle. She had been married to Count Hermann von Wedel, the brother of Carl Wedel the later ambassador and Statthalter, of whom Eulenburg said that he could never have made such a meteoric career without the ability 'to terrorise the Kaiser' over 'certain profligate actions' in Vienna in the 1880s. Elisabeth Wedel-Berard moved to Berlin-Charlottenburg, where Wilhelm frequently came to visit her, and briefly worked at the Persian embassy in Berlin. On retiring from that position she accidentally left five of Wilhelm's letters to her in the embassy safe. She remarried in 1887 and eventually received a small pension when Wilhelm came to the throne, in return for handing back the correspondence. However, when it was realised that several of Wilhelm's letters were still missing, she was hunted by the police and the law courts and forced to spend the rest of her life in exile. She took revenge in 1900 by publishing in Zurich her long and highly revealing memoirs entitled My Relationship with H.M. Kaiser Wilhelm II.
"Countess Elisabeth Wedel-Berard was born Elisabeth Berard somewhere in Germany on December 27, 2848 (therefore more than ten years Willy's senior and only eight years younger than his mother), perhaps of an American mother. Much later in her life she would claim to be a daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm I, Willy's grandfather, as well as a great-granddaughter of the louche King Frederick William II of Prussia, who had so many illegitimate children his subjects call him, 'the much-loved.' There is no reason to believe her claims. What is certain is that she was a great beauty and for more than two decades was the talk of the court. Elisabeth was discovered at the racetrack at its opening in May of 1869 by Chamberlain Louis von Prillwitz, son of a royal father, Prince August of Prussia, and his beautiful Jewish mistress, Auguste Arend, who was ennobled as a baroness in 1825. . . ." (The Kaiser’s Confidante: Mary Lee, the First American-Born Princess: 105)
Elisabeth's personal & family background.
"Elisabeth Berard got to know Prince Wilhelm in 1884 in the course of some bizarre negotiations between the Austrian Archduke Carl Salvator and the German General Staff under Waldersee for the patent rights of a repeater rifle. She had been married to Count Hermann von Wedel, the brother of Carl Wedel the later ambassador and Statthalter, of whom Eulenburg said that he could never have made such a meteoric career without the ability 'to terrorise the Kaiser' over 'certain profligate actions' in Vienna in the 1880s. Elisabeth Wedel-Berard moved to Berlin-Charlottenburg, where Wilhelm frequently came to visit her, and briefly worked at the Persian embassy in Berlin. On retiring from that position she accidentally left five of Wilhelm's letters to her in the embassy safe. She remarried in 1887 and eventually received a small pension when Wilhelm came to the throne, in return for handing back the correspondence. However, when it was realised that several of Wilhelm's letters were still missing, she was hunted by the police and the law courts and forced to spend the rest of her life in exile. She took revenge in 1900 by publishing in Zurich her long and highly revealing memoirs entitled My Relationship with H.M. Kaiser Wilhelm II.
"Countess Elisabeth Wedel-Berard was born Elisabeth Berard somewhere in Germany on December 27, 2848 (therefore more than ten years Willy's senior and only eight years younger than his mother), perhaps of an American mother. Much later in her life she would claim to be a daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm I, Willy's grandfather, as well as a great-granddaughter of the louche King Frederick William II of Prussia, who had so many illegitimate children his subjects call him, 'the much-loved.' There is no reason to believe her claims. What is certain is that she was a great beauty and for more than two decades was the talk of the court. Elisabeth was discovered at the racetrack at its opening in May of 1869 by Chamberlain Louis von Prillwitz, son of a royal father, Prince August of Prussia, and his beautiful Jewish mistress, Auguste Arend, who was ennobled as a baroness in 1825. . . ." (The Kaiser’s Confidante: Mary Lee, the First American-Born Princess: 105)
Elisabeth's personal & family background.
"The life of Countess Elisabeth Wedel-Berard reads like a novel, and indeed -- it later became the subject of a novel. Her background is murky. She was born Wilhelmine Emilie Elisabeth Berard on 27 December 1848 somewhere in Germany, but it is not known where. We also know nothing about her family background. . . At the end of her life, when she was no longer of sound mind, she claimed to be the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm I, and on her mother's side the great granddaughter of Friedrich Wilhelm II. Evidently an exceptionally beautiful woman, she appeared in Berlin court circles when she was barely twenty, and until the age of forty was quite the talk of the town. By her own account, she was 'discovered' by Chamberlain Louis von Prillwits when the Berlin race-track was opened in May 1869, and thus came into contact with the aristocratic and wealthy members of the Union Club. . . ." (Young Wilhelm: The Kaiser's Early Life, 1859-1888: 490)
"Elisabeth Berard was the wife of Count Hermann von Wedel, the Prussian governor of Alsace-Lorraine under Kaiser Wilhelm II. Separating from her husband, Elisabeth took up a notorious career as a courtesan, and eventually became the mistress of the Kaiser, who was ten years her junior (1885). When she was residing in Potsdam, the emperor presented her with a valuable diamond necklace as a token of his affections. Later she was installed in an apartment at Charlottenburg Castle. The affair lasted little over a year, after which the countess then successfully blackmailed her former lover, and published memoirs which publicized details of their liaison. Eventually she became mentally unbalanced and died a hopeless lunatic." (A Bit of History)
"Elisabeth Berard was the wife of Count Hermann von Wedel, the Prussian governor of Alsace-Lorraine under Kaiser Wilhelm II. Separating from her husband, Elisabeth took up a notorious career as a courtesan, and eventually became the mistress of the Kaiser, who was ten years her junior (1885). When she was residing in Potsdam, the emperor presented her with a valuable diamond necklace as a token of his affections. Later she was installed in an apartment at Charlottenburg Castle. The affair lasted little over a year, after which the countess then successfully blackmailed her former lover, and published memoirs which publicized details of their liaison. Eventually she became mentally unbalanced and died a hopeless lunatic." (A Bit of History)
Elisabeth's love life.
" . . . In the 1870s, Elisabeth Berard was the mistress of Prince Friedrich of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen until he married Princess Luise of Thurn and Taxis in 1879. It was widely accepted that Fritz Hohenzollern, the brother of the King of Romania, was the father of her twin children, Eugenie and Friedrich. Elisabeth also claimed that Hohenzollern and his court clique were involved in devilish political intrigues which she betrayed to both Police Chief Madai and to Prillwitz. . . ." (Young Wilhelm: The Kaiser's Early Life, 1859-1888: 490)
" . . . In the 1870s, Elisabeth Berard was the mistress of Prince Friedrich of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen until he married Princess Luise of Thurn and Taxis in 1879. It was widely accepted that Fritz Hohenzollern, the brother of the King of Romania, was the father of her twin children, Eugenie and Friedrich. Elisabeth also claimed that Hohenzollern and his court clique were involved in devilish political intrigues which she betrayed to both Police Chief Madai and to Prillwitz. . . ." (Young Wilhelm: The Kaiser's Early Life, 1859-1888: 490)
Elisabeth's spouse & children.
" . . . On 24 November 1879, Elisabeth Berard married Count Hermann von Wedel in Zurich... The marriage, which was seen by her from the beginning as a marriage of convenience in order to provide the Hohenzollern children with an aristocratic title, ended in divorce as early as February 1884, purportedly because Elisabeth -- having discovered that Hermann Wedel had a mistress and a daughter by her -- denied him all conjugal rights on their wedding night. . . ." (Young Wilhelm: 490)
" . . . A fourth woman with whom he had a lasting affair in the mid-1880s, Elisabeth Berard, the divorced Countess Wedel, was unlucky enough, while attached to the Persian legation in Berlin, to mislay some of the love letters that she had received from Wilhelm, as a result of which she was pursued by court agents for the rest of her life. Suffering severely from paranoia and convinced that she was the rightful German empress, she was eventually admitted to a lunatic asylum in Basel and then bundled over the border at Lorrach into the hands of the German authorities. Wilhelm's missing letters eventually came to light in Teheran after the Second World War. They were printed in facsimile in the German popular press and were without any doubt authentic. . . ." (Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Concise Life: 27)
3) Ella Somssich.
Lover in 1881-1887
Also known as:
Ella Sommssics
Ella Somsics.
" . . . As early as as the spring of 1887, Rudolf informed Steininger that 'in the course of the winter [1886/7], Prince Wilhelm very frequently visited a Viennese woman named Ella Somsics, who lives in Linkstrasse 39; she was once the mistress of our ambassador'. Ella Sommssich therefore seems to have resided in Berlin at least three times: first as the mistress of Count Emerich Szechenyi, the Austrian ambassador, then in the Linkstrasse 39 as Wilhelm's mistress in the winter of 1886/7 -- this was the time when Rudolf heard of Wilhelm's intention to annex the German-speaking parts of Austria -- and again as Wilhelm's mistress in the winter of 1887/8. In mid-1887 she had taken a room in Laimgrubengasse in Vienna, until a letter from Wilhelm arrived with the request that she dispatch to Berlin a certain lady 'with beautiful hands'. As this woman had to travel to Switzerland on the days in question, Ella herself offered to come to Berlin for two days -- for 500 marks plus expenses. Moreover, she stated that she intended to reside there over the winter in an apartment which Wilhelm could easily reach, where he could also see the woman with the beautiful hands. We can assume that the second woman was Anna (or Marie) Homolatsch, in whose company Ella Sommssich had her boisterous rendezvous with Wilhelm in October 1887, first at Schonbrunn, then in Murzteg, and finally in Eisenerz." (Young Wilhelm: 486)
"But life, as the French say, is more like a novel than a novel is like life. Within a year of his marriage in February 1881, Wilhelm wrote a letter 'quite officially, without disguising his handwriting' to a well-known Viennese procuress by the name of Frau Wolf. Through her good officers he made the acquaintance of Ella Somsics (or Sommssics), an Austrian girl who came to live in the Linkstrasse in Berlin, where the prince visited her 'very frequently' over a number of years. In October 1887, when his father lay dying of cancer, Prince Wilhelm travelled to hunt in Austria and Ella Somsics followed with a friend called Anna (or Marie) Homolatsch. The three young people met in the village of Murzsteg, first in the Catholic cemetery and then at the only inn. But since William was unwilling to pay the women their rail fare, they departed in anger -- though only after Ella had stolen Wilhelm's monogrammed cuff-links adorned with the Prussian crown, to display them in triumph around Vienna. After several urgent pleas from Wilhelm, Ella and Anna eventually joined him in Eisenerz, at the 'Gasthaus zum Kpnig von Sachsen'. A policeman was on the point of sending them away when one of Prince Wilhelm's servants appeared and explained that the ladies were 'for his master'. When the prince joined them both in one room in the middle of the night, the noise was so great that all the other guests were awakened." (The Kaiser and His Court: Wilhelm II and the Government of Germany: 17)
"It now seems clear why Wilhelm found his hunting trips to Austria so stimulating. In Vienna, Murzsteg, Eisenerz, and Hungary, Wilhelm attempted to satisfy his hunting instincts, not just for stags but for women, too, just as at Miss Love's house in Strasbourg his mistress had not been confined to military matters. Shortly after getting married, and through the agency of the procuress Frau Wolf, he found in Ella Sommssich a mistress to his tastes; he sought her out not only in Austria, but also had her ensconced in an apartment in Berlin for two winters. Through Ella he made the acquaintance of other women 'with beautiful hands', which evidently -- as is shown in the letters he wrote to his mother about his dreams and to Emilie Love about his fantasies of bondage -- had a special significance for him. He seems to have enjoyed being tougher with two women at once -- which does not exactly speak in favour homosexual leanings. Such a lifestyle was not unusual; for a royal prince it can in fact be regarded as quite normal. What was unusual was the hypocrisy Wilhelm showed in voicing such indignation at the free and easy love-lives of his Uncle Edward, his Romanian cousin, and his friends Rudolf and Milan, especially as she pretended to be the very epitome of Christian-German purity, whereas in reality, in terms of his achievements in the field of adultery, he was clearly their equal. Others obviously found his hypocrisy insulting, and they became his enemies, just as his own unrealistic moral stance left him open to attack." (Young Wilhelm: 489)
" . . . In the two or three years before his accession in 1888, Wilhelm's extramarital adventures became quite notorious in political and military circles. Together with Crown Prince Rudolf he visited the procuress Frau Wolf's brothel in Vienna, where he met two women, Ella Sommssics and Anna Homolatsch, spending several rambunctious nights with both of them together in the Austrian capital and in the Alpine resorts of Murzsteg and Eisenerz. According to Rudolf, in the winter of 1886-7 the heir to the Prusso-German throne installed Ella Sommssics as his mistress in the Linkstrasse in Berlin. In the summer of 1887, in response to a request from Wilhelm for her to return to Berlin and bring a companion along with her, Ella wrote to him from Vienna (her letter has survived) assuring him that this other woman was indeed 'truly beautiful and also has very beautiful hands, quite in keeping with Your Highness's taste.' Both Ella Sommssics and Anna Homolatsch had to be paid off on Wilhelm's accession to the throne, especially as the latter had borne him a daughter. . . ." (Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Concise Life: 26)
4) Emilie Klopp.
"But life, as the French say, is more like a novel than a novel is like life. Within a year of his marriage in February 1881, Wilhelm wrote a letter 'quite officially, without disguising his handwriting' to a well-known Viennese procuress by the name of Frau Wolf. Through her good officers he made the acquaintance of Ella Somsics (or Sommssics), an Austrian girl who came to live in the Linkstrasse in Berlin, where the prince visited her 'very frequently' over a number of years. In October 1887, when his father lay dying of cancer, Prince Wilhelm travelled to hunt in Austria and Ella Somsics followed with a friend called Anna (or Marie) Homolatsch. The three young people met in the village of Murzsteg, first in the Catholic cemetery and then at the only inn. But since William was unwilling to pay the women their rail fare, they departed in anger -- though only after Ella had stolen Wilhelm's monogrammed cuff-links adorned with the Prussian crown, to display them in triumph around Vienna. After several urgent pleas from Wilhelm, Ella and Anna eventually joined him in Eisenerz, at the 'Gasthaus zum Kpnig von Sachsen'. A policeman was on the point of sending them away when one of Prince Wilhelm's servants appeared and explained that the ladies were 'for his master'. When the prince joined them both in one room in the middle of the night, the noise was so great that all the other guests were awakened." (The Kaiser and His Court: Wilhelm II and the Government of Germany: 17)
"It now seems clear why Wilhelm found his hunting trips to Austria so stimulating. In Vienna, Murzsteg, Eisenerz, and Hungary, Wilhelm attempted to satisfy his hunting instincts, not just for stags but for women, too, just as at Miss Love's house in Strasbourg his mistress had not been confined to military matters. Shortly after getting married, and through the agency of the procuress Frau Wolf, he found in Ella Sommssich a mistress to his tastes; he sought her out not only in Austria, but also had her ensconced in an apartment in Berlin for two winters. Through Ella he made the acquaintance of other women 'with beautiful hands', which evidently -- as is shown in the letters he wrote to his mother about his dreams and to Emilie Love about his fantasies of bondage -- had a special significance for him. He seems to have enjoyed being tougher with two women at once -- which does not exactly speak in favour homosexual leanings. Such a lifestyle was not unusual; for a royal prince it can in fact be regarded as quite normal. What was unusual was the hypocrisy Wilhelm showed in voicing such indignation at the free and easy love-lives of his Uncle Edward, his Romanian cousin, and his friends Rudolf and Milan, especially as she pretended to be the very epitome of Christian-German purity, whereas in reality, in terms of his achievements in the field of adultery, he was clearly their equal. Others obviously found his hypocrisy insulting, and they became his enemies, just as his own unrealistic moral stance left him open to attack." (Young Wilhelm: 489)
" . . . In the two or three years before his accession in 1888, Wilhelm's extramarital adventures became quite notorious in political and military circles. Together with Crown Prince Rudolf he visited the procuress Frau Wolf's brothel in Vienna, where he met two women, Ella Sommssics and Anna Homolatsch, spending several rambunctious nights with both of them together in the Austrian capital and in the Alpine resorts of Murzsteg and Eisenerz. According to Rudolf, in the winter of 1886-7 the heir to the Prusso-German throne installed Ella Sommssics as his mistress in the Linkstrasse in Berlin. In the summer of 1887, in response to a request from Wilhelm for her to return to Berlin and bring a companion along with her, Ella wrote to him from Vienna (her letter has survived) assuring him that this other woman was indeed 'truly beautiful and also has very beautiful hands, quite in keeping with Your Highness's taste.' Both Ella Sommssics and Anna Homolatsch had to be paid off on Wilhelm's accession to the throne, especially as the latter had borne him a daughter. . . ." (Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Concise Life: 26)
4) Emilie Klopp.
Lover in 1880s.
"A dashing colonel of Hussars, however, Prince Wilhelm did not allow himself to be constrained by the conventions of a bourgeois Christian marriage. From the early 1880s he had a liaison with Emilie Klopp, professionally known as Miss Love, a woman from Alsace whom he later installed in Potsdam for a time as his mistress. Using letters in her possession and claiming that she had a daughter by Wilhelm, Miss Love was able to extort considerable sums of money by blackmail: the Bismarck's bought up Wilhelm's love letters and poured scorn on the curious intimacies (some involving bondage of the hands) described therein. When he came to write his celebrated memoirs, the bitter old man found it impossible to resist the temptation to mock the Kaiser's exceptionally strong sexual urges. . . ." (Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Concise Life: 26)
5) Lilli von Heemstra.
" . . . Already in December 1921, the ex-Kaiser's adjutant, Sigurd von Ilsemann, reported that Baroness Lilli von Heemstra (Wilhelm II's mistress, who also had had an affair with his son, Crown Prince Wilhelm), had traveled to Friedrichshof with the express purpose of finding a suitable husband (if only as a cover so that she could continue er affair with the ex-Kaiser). Ilsemann reported, 'at the beginning she had her eye on the youngest, Prince Christoph, but he was not interested and she then selected his older brother Wolfgang; she immediately secured the permission of the mother [the Landgravine], although the father had not yet been approached.' While nothing came of Heemstra's plans for any of the Hessen brothers, it was clear that young royals were expected to find a suitable spouse. When Christoph found someone for whom he had genuine feelings, he leapt at the opportunity." (Royals and the Reich: 92)
6) Mary Lee.
"In the 1960s, an American amateur historian caused a stir by claiming that Prince Wilhelm had been in love with Count Waldersee's American wife. Born Mary Esther Lee in 1857 as the daughter of a New York shopkeeper, and the widow of Prince Friedrich of Prince Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (the Later Prince von Noer, 1800-1865), Countess Waldersee is said to have aspired be the Madame de Pompadour of Prussia and to have played an important role in the 1880s thanks to her intimate relationship with the young Prince. . . ." (Young Wilhelm: 490)
5) Lilli von Heemstra.
" . . . Already in December 1921, the ex-Kaiser's adjutant, Sigurd von Ilsemann, reported that Baroness Lilli von Heemstra (Wilhelm II's mistress, who also had had an affair with his son, Crown Prince Wilhelm), had traveled to Friedrichshof with the express purpose of finding a suitable husband (if only as a cover so that she could continue er affair with the ex-Kaiser). Ilsemann reported, 'at the beginning she had her eye on the youngest, Prince Christoph, but he was not interested and she then selected his older brother Wolfgang; she immediately secured the permission of the mother [the Landgravine], although the father had not yet been approached.' While nothing came of Heemstra's plans for any of the Hessen brothers, it was clear that young royals were expected to find a suitable spouse. When Christoph found someone for whom he had genuine feelings, he leapt at the opportunity." (Royals and the Reich: 92)
6) Mary Lee.
"In the 1960s, an American amateur historian caused a stir by claiming that Prince Wilhelm had been in love with Count Waldersee's American wife. Born Mary Esther Lee in 1857 as the daughter of a New York shopkeeper, and the widow of Prince Friedrich of Prince Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (the Later Prince von Noer, 1800-1865), Countess Waldersee is said to have aspired be the Madame de Pompadour of Prussia and to have played an important role in the 1880s thanks to her intimate relationship with the young Prince. . . ." (Young Wilhelm: 490)
7) Philipp von Eulenburg.
Rohl is not entirely convincing in concluding that these love affairs absolve Wilhelm of homosexuality. . . Eulenburg letter to Wilhelm of 22 May, 1888, . . . published by Rohl himself. . . implies sexual relations of Wilhelm and Eulenburg with Jakob Ernst, whose testimony convicted Eulenburg in 1908 of perjury. There are bisexuals. . . ." (Canadian Journal of History)
Rohl is not entirely convincing in concluding that these love affairs absolve Wilhelm of homosexuality. . . Eulenburg letter to Wilhelm of 22 May, 1888, . . . published by Rohl himself. . . implies sexual relations of Wilhelm and Eulenburg with Jakob Ernst, whose testimony convicted Eulenburg in 1908 of perjury. There are bisexuals. . . ." (Canadian Journal of History)
References.
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