Last change:
30-3-2000;
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The history of Wieringen
A royal visitor
After the 1918 Armistice, being a de facto German defeat, the German Emperor and his son, crownprince Friedrich Wilhelm V.E.A. von Hohenzollern, Prinz von Preussen, fled from the Flemish front to the Netherlands. They asked for asylum, which was granted to them without much difficulties. The Dutch government had gained a problem, because both exiles needed to be housed.Back in 1918 Wieringen was still remote enough to serve as a place of exile for the former German crownprince. On November 22nd 1918 he arrived with his personal entourage and he put up at the old Oosterland vicarage, situated at the Akkerweg. For a brief moment in history Wieringen was on the frontpage of all the world's newspapers and photographs of the prince making horseshoes at his friend blacksmith Luyt's forge were sold worldwide.
 The crownprince visiting the mayor | After spending almost 5 years on Wieringen, on November 10th 1923 to be precise, the prince left. The German government of those days, led by Stresemann, had given him permission to return to Germany. He must have thought there were chances for him to restore the old regime (Germany lay in ruins, struck by hyperinflation. The crownprince was right about the people looking for a strong leader, only it wasn't him). He left Wieringen quietly, leaving a number of presumed illegimate children and tall stories that would last for years. One famous story tells of the paper bathingsuits the crownprince supposedly had given the young girls of Wieringen. When they tried their new bathingsuits the fabric dissolved in water. The crownprince was very amused. |
The former crownprincess visits her husband on Wieringen. Click to enlarge photo.
After his return to Germany the ex-crownprince never played the leading role he had envisioned for himself. Until his death in 1951 he lived an anonymous, retired life as a relic of a past period.
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