Wilhelm II of Germany

From the list of elephant persons Family: von Hohenzollern

Biography

☨ Wilhelm II of Germany

Profession	zoo visitor
Personal details
Born	1859-01-27 in Germany

Dead	1941-06-04 in Germany

Residence
Country	Germany

Locations
Title	visitor 1913-1913
Location	at Carl Hagenbecks Tierpark (Stellingen) in Germany

Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Hohenzollern , zoo visitor in Germany

von Hohenzollern was born * 1859-01-27 in Germany dead 1941-06-04 , in Germany .

German Emperor Wilhelm II visited Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg on multiple occasions, providing significant public support that helped establish the zoo's early fame.

Records about Wilhelm II of Germany from the book Animals are my life, by Lorenz Hagenbeck
During Hamburg's 1908 race week, the Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany paid a visit to our animal park. Father, Heinrich and I stood in our best frock-coats and top hats at the main entrance to receive the monarch. All our friends and acquaintances had showered advice on us how to behave, for it was a long time since we had had so elevated a visitor. We were on no account to address His Majesty ourselves ; we were to maintain a respectfully humble but yet dignified bearing ; we must hold our top hats in our left hands ; we must do this and we must on no account do that !

It was a little before ten when the four imperial Mercedes motorcars with the familiar imperial hooters sounding roared into sight at high speed. In the first car I recognized the Kaiser, in naval uniform. For hours already the Veterans Associations of the 1 848-51 and 1870-1 wars had been assembled, complete with standards and brass bands. The school children all had a holiday and our Altona police had their hands full to keep the route free from children. On our flagstaff the national flag of Prussia was topped by the black, white and red flag of the Reich for of course Stellingen could not forget that it was Prussian territory. The cheering resounded all the way from Hamburg to the animal park, and the crowds in the streets and squares were dense.

'Good morning, comrades!' cried the Kaiser to the war veterans as he stepped from his car. The Prussian Ambassador, Count von Götzen, then presented Father, Heinrich and myself. At once the Kaiser's beaming goodwill and cordiality eased the stiffness of those first moments. 'I already know your animal park so well from the cinematographs, 1 said Wilhelm II, with a laugh, 'but my brother has told me that I really must have a look at the real thing. '

There followed a pleasant stroll of several hours through the park, which for the whole of that morning was closed to the public. Everywhere stood our keepers, in gala uniform. It was all rather like a regimental parade, and every man heaved a sigh of relief when the august visitor uttered his perfunctory words of praise. While Father conversed enthusiastically with the Kaiser, my brother and I gave the Court Marshals, the Generals, the Supreme Stable-masters and other members of the imperial suite whatever explanations they desired.

In the training hall our leading tamer, Papa Schilling, showed the Kaiser his big mixed groups of the big carnivores. But it was the Indian conjurer of the Singhalese company who attracted most attention and after a strenuous two and a half hours' sightseeing the Kaiser expressed a wish to have this performer show his skill on board the Imperial yacht, the Hohenzollern, then lying in the harbour.

The same afternoon, I drove in all my finery out in an elegant coach, together with our Indian fakir, to the landing-stage dock, where the Hohenzollern lay. Clearly the officers of the watch thought it was some oriental potentate come with his ambassador to pay court. The bosun's pipe shrilled and it was with much pomp that we strode under the blue ceiling of the landing-bridge, which had been transformed into a regular arbour by flowers and bunting. The watch presented arms, and when the officer in command received me I detected a little grin playing on his face. We agreed that this was probably the first time that a recruit whose only military service had been three weeks in the Count Bose Infantry Regiment No. 31 had been accorded such a reception. On the other hand, had I not brought the wonder of India to the Royal yacht?

A dazzling company had assembled on the after-deck, among whom I was amused to recognise the same personalities whom so recently I had shown over our animal park. The Kaiser himself was in fine form, and kept asking me what the magician was saying. This was because our Indian accompanied his tricks with a regular cascade of words. But I had not the faintest idea what they meant. However, I used my wits and with my eyes keenly following the fellow's picturesque gestures I 'translated* away. The conjurer brought the house down when he asked for a ring, and threw it into the air where it vanished then pointed to his 'magic bag* and asked the Kaiser to take out any one of the oranges in it and hand it to him. Demonstrating to everybody that the peel of the selected orange was untouched, he split it open with nimble fingers, to reveal the ring stuck in the Heart of it. I never saw the Kaiser more happy than he was at that moment.

A few hours later the Hohenzollern weighed anchor and set course for Heligoland.

The book Animals are my life, written 1956 by Lorenz Hagenbeck

1909: During this visit, he was photographed interacting with individuals in the "human zoo" exhibitions, specifically Samoan and Sámi people.
1913: The Emperor visited the Stellingen park to observe the feeding of penguins and seals and reportedly watched wrestling matches performed by people in the ethnographic displays.

Wilhelm II of Germany is mentioned on 2 other person pagesAdrian Jacobsen, Fritz Schilling,

Books where Wilhelm II of Germany is mentioned

1: (1909) Beasts and Men: A Fascinating Chronicle of Animal Training, Exploration, and the Birth of the Modern Zoo by Carl Hagenbeck:ISBN: 1667305883 Amazon.com Amazon.de
2: (1956) Animals Are My Life by Lorenz Hagenbeck:ISBN: B0000CJIY8 Amazon.com Amazon.de

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2026). visitor Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Hohenzollern in Germany. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 7 June 2026 at https://www.elephant.se/person.php?id=4885. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:

Beasts and Men, by Carl Hagenbeck
The book Animals Are My Life by Lorenz Hagenbeck 1956
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tierpark_Hagenbeck
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_II

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