La Fraineuse
La Fraineuse ( French: Château de la Fraineuse) is a sports center (Center sportif de la Fraineuse) in the spa town of Spa in Belgium . In 1918 it served as the residence of the last German Emperor Wilhelm II .
estate
The villa is located in a wooded area of approx. 27 hectares .
history
Establishment
At the end of the 19th century the industrialist Auguste Henri Peltzer, son of the cloth manufacturer Guillaume Auguste Peltzer, acquired the property. His family had made great fortune through the wool production in Verviers . The possessions were drawn down around the Course de Sauveniére to the Lac de Warfaaz reservoir . Inspired by the Petit Trianon , he had a similar villa built there in 1908 based on plans by the Belgian architect Charles Étienne Soubre .
1914-1918
With the November Revolution, the debate arose as to whether the Kaiser should resign or seek the honorable death of a soldier at the front . Wilhelm escaped this debate by traveling to Spa on October 29, 1918, under the protection of the Grand Headquarters , which was not far from the Hotel Britannique , and moving into the Villa La Fraineuse . On November 9, 1918, he let Chancellor Max von Baden know that he would remain King of Prussia but would forego the imperial crown. In the afternoon, too late, the telegram of the abdication of the throne arrived in Berlin. In view of the demonstrators who had penetrated into the government district, Prince Max had arbitrarily announced Wilhelm's waiver of both crowns at lunchtime. It is not clear whether he signed his deed of abdication on November 9, 1918 in the Villa La Fraineuse or in the Hotel Britannique . Wilhelm traveled from Spa on November 10, 1918 to the nearby border of the Netherlands and asked Queen Wilhelmina for asylum .
Until the present
The Spa Conference met here from July 5 to 16, 1920 . In 1947 the city of Spa bought the building with the intention of building a leisure center. The project failed due to lack of funds. In 1964, in cooperation with INEPS, a youth home with camp was built on the site. In 1967 the Belgian state bought the property for 500,000 francs . On June 13, 1978 the sports center was inaugurated.
literature
- Irene Strenge: Spa in the First World War (1914-1918): military hospital and large headquarters. German occupation policy in Belgium. Würzburg 2007. ISBN 382603693X .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Les châteaux Peltzer de Nivezé , information on sparealites.be
- ^ A b Irene Strenge: Spa in the First World War (1914–1918): military hospital and large headquarters. German occupation policy in Belgium. P. 15.
- ^ Biography of Wilhelm II.
Coordinates: 50 ° 29 '46.9 " N , 5 ° 53' 13.9" E