From The History of Wieringen

(English translation from article in: the History of Wieringen - see link on next page; translation by webmaster of this site)

After the armistice of 1918, which de facto meant the defeat of Germany, and after the socialist uprisings in Germany, the German emperor and his son the crown prince, Friedrich Wilhelm V.E.A. Von Hohenzollern fled to the Netherlands. Both asked for political asylum in the Netherlands which was granted without much difficulty. However a problem for the Dutch gouvernment was where to find residence for the exiles. Wieringen was then, in 1918, still truly a rather remote island and for that reason a proper place of exile for the crown prince.
On the 22nd of November 1918 the prince and his household arrived on the island and moved in the former vicarage in the village of Oosterland. For a short period Wieringen was focus of world news: photo's of the prince welding horseshoes at the smithy of his friend blacksmith Luyt, on the Nieuwstraat at Hippolytushoef, went all over the world.

After almost five years (November 10, 1923) the prince left the island. The Stresemann gouvernment of Germany permitted him to return to his fatherland. For some time the prince had the idea that he could restore the old regime, but this did not succeed (This was the period of the hyperinflation: Germany was bankrupt: an opportunity for a strong regime).
Without anyone (except for the Dutch gouvernment, that assisted him) knowing it he left Wieringen. He left behind an island with - as is being said - some of his illigitimate children and a lot of material for stories about which one could talk for several decades. Famous, for example, is the story of the paper bathing suits he handed out to some of the Wieringen young women. When these women tried these bathing suits out in the water they disolved, meanwhile the prince was watching with a lot of interest.

Image: The Mayors' wife, HRH, and Mayor Kolff