Hohenzollern impostors
The Fosse family of Bergen, Norway is known for claiming to be illegitimate descendants of Wilhelm II, German Emperor. Allegedly stated in the 1970s by the family's ancestor Anders Fosse, the claim has later been proven incorrect by historical evidence as well as DNA.
History[edit]
A family tradition has claimed that Anders Elias Fosse (born 1906, died 1983), of Bergen, was an illegitimate son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor. In the 1970s, when a visiting grandson asked Fosse who was depicted in a Wilhelm II portrait photography hanging on the wall, Fosse allegedly replied: "He is my father."[1]
Investigating this tradition decades later, members of the family initially established Facebook contact with persons whose personal profiles displayed the Hohenzollern name, unaware of that the latter were impostors. Subsequently, in a purported letter of May 2012 from King Juan Carlos I of Spain, the family was recognised as "Hijos" and "Hijas de Prusia" (Spanish for sons and daughters of Prussia), prompting the family's legal adoption of the Hohenzollern name the same year.[2] In addition, some members assumed styles like Royal Highness and titles like Prince.[1]
Later,[when?] the letter was officially denounced as unauthentic by the House of Hohenzollern, who, upon learning of the letter in November 2012, had enquired about it to the Royal Household in Madrid.[1] The letter was likely produced by one of the individuals who deceived the Fosse family on Facebook.[1]
It remains a fact that Wilhelm II frequently visited Western Norway.[1] However, historians[who?] have pointed out that he did not visit in 1905: the year before Anders Elias Fosse was born. In December 2013, showing a 100-percent coincidence between the Fosse family genannt Hohenzollern and a patrilineal relative, a Y-chromosomal DNA test confirmed that Fosse's legal father, Elias Fosse, was also his biological father.[1] The status of Fosse's legal mother, Karen Kristoffersdatter, was never in question (cf. the mater semper certa est principle).
Subsequently, some members of the family have abandoned the Hohenzollern name, whereas others continue to use it legally due to its being assumed in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Norway as a sovereign state: Lacking judicial relevance in Norway, foreigners' accusations of "misuse" et cetera remain expressions for personal taste, and additionally reveal a shortage of knowledge regarding international law.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Arnfinn Mauren, "Keiserens nye barn" [The Emperor's New Children], Aftenposten, 17 February 2014
- ↑ Jørgen Grønner, "Her er keiser Wilhelms bergenske oldebarn" [Here is Emperor Wilhelm's Great-grandson from Bergen], Bergensavisen, 23 August 2012
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