FIRST WORLD WAR pavilion
Wilhelm II's garage was converted into an exhibition pavilion and enlarged with a glass extension. Here you can now visit exhibitions on the Netherlands and the First World War.
The permanent exhibition´Tusschen twee vuren’ (Caught between two fires) in the pavilion tells the story of the neutral Netherlands finding herself caught in between warring nations during the first world war. Although not directly engaged in the conflict, neutrality for the Netherlands did not mean the country was unaffected by the war. We highlight these themes in five different facets:
- Four years of high alert
- Public opinion in the Netherlands
- Food shortages and war profiteers
- Influx of civilian refugees and internment of soldiers
- The threat of Red communism to the old order of the royal household of Orange
The garage was built bordering on the kitchen garden in 1928 to accommodate Wilhelm II's growing fleet of cars. A year earlier, the emperor had bought a new Mercedes. On the occasion of his 70th birthday (27 January 1929), family and friends gave him the clock tower next to the garage. The site of the pavilion's glass extension was originally the pigsty of Huis Doorn.
