Clémentine Portier-Kaltenbach 4:45 p.m., April 19, 2022
Wilhelm II (1859-1941), the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, was a complexed man.
His difficult birth leaves him with an irreversible handicap: his left arm, paralyzed, is shorter.
Because of this infirmity, his childhood is tainted by the sufferings, the operations and the humiliations coming from his own family who call him “the cripple”.
But once an adult, William II takes his revenge.
He who could not ride a horse alone becomes an honorable rider.
To conceal his physical problem, he finds stratagems and poses so that his arm cannot be seen.
The Emperor always appears in uniform, as if to assert his authority and hide his weaknesses…
To go further, read the biography
Kaiser Wilhelm II, Last Emperor of Germany
, written by Henry Bogdan and available from Taillandier.