Figure 1.--Kaiser Wilhelm II is seen here with the children of Crown Prince Frederich WEilhem and the Kaiserina and the children's mother. Most of the surviving images of the Kaiser and his grandchildren were with the children of the Crown Prince. The boys were often pictured in the silk play suits that the two older boys wear. The photograph was dated at at 1912, bit if these are the children of the Crown Prince, I am not sure about this.

I have no information yet on the relatinship between Wilhelm II and his grandchildren. There are many photographs with the children. Many are rather touching, intimate family portraits. He appears to be rather a loving, doting grandfather. That is just based, however, on an examination of the photographs. The images that we have appear to be primarily of the Kaiser and the children of the Crown Prince. This suggests of course that these were the children that he took the greatest interest in. Photographs of William II with his other grandchildren are much more limited. I'm not sure how the other grandchildren were dressed.

The crown princes's children were often pictured in the silk short pamts play suits shown here. The baby looks to be about 1-year old and still wears a dressd. Prince Louis Ferdinand would have been 5 years old in 1912, but he looks younger in this photograph. Thus HBC thinks this photograph may not have been taken in 1912. Prince Louis Ferdinand in facts looks to9nbe only about 3 years old. This suggests that the boys were being breeched at about age 3 years or longer.

Created: June 25, 2001
Last updated: June 25, 2001