Kaiser Wilhelm II's sons
The six sons of Kaiser Wilhelm II pictured in 1900: (l to r standing) Eitel Friedrich (1883-1942), Crown Prince Wilhelm (1882-1951), Adalbert (1884-1948); (in front) Oskar (1888-1958), Joachim (1890-1920) and August Wilhelm (1887-1949), all dressed in military uniform. Each of the Kaiser's sons were commissioned into the First Foot Guards on his tenth birthday and, at the age of twelve sent on to the military cadet school at Plon where a house had been purchased for them to segregate them from other pupils except those selected by their governor. The Kaiser abhorred the liberal education his parents had drawn up for him and set out to re-model German grammar schools on the cadet school model. He believed too much Classics was bad for boys and denied them a chance to develop strong national feelings. He urged more detailed study of Germany and German history, less classroom work and more physical activity. This regime ensured his sons grew up steeped in Prussian military tradition
