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This 15th century "HOUSE DOORN" ("Doorn Manor") is a mansion @ DOORN, a small town near Utrecht, the Netherlands.

My in-laws
John & Henny van Dijk
live opposite this beautiful building!

Baroness Ella van Heemstra (b. 1900 - d. 1984), the mother of actress Audrey Hepburn, spent most of her childhood living in the house.
The house was purchased in 1919 by William II, the last German Emperor, as his residence-in-exile (1920-1941) after World War I.

Some HISTORY
William II's asylum in the Netherlands was based on family ties with Queen Wilhelmina, whom he embarrassed by his politicized statements. He died at "Huis Doorn", June 4, 1941, with the Nazi occupiers on guard at the gates of the estate. He is buried there in a small mausoleum on the lawn, awaiting his return to Germany upon the restoration of the Prussian monarchy.
The house DOORN is open as a museum, just as Wilhelm left it, with marquetry commodes, tapestries, paintings by German court painters, porcelains and silver. Wilhelm's collections of snuffboxes and watches that belonged to Frederick the Great are the most interesting collections.

Five of Wilhelm's beloved dachshunds are buried in the park. A stone is dedicated to the memory of Senta who accompanied the Kaiser during all of World War I and died in 1927 at age 20.

In June each year a devoted band of German monarchists still come to pay their respects and lay wreaths, accompanied by marchers in period uniforms and representatives from modern monarchist organizations, such as "Tradition und Leben" of Cologne.

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Copyright Olga van Dijk 2007
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