Belgium King Albert I

Albert I was the Belgium King from 1909 to 1934. There are only three model figures made by Hausser and Linol which represent him.

Biography

Prinz Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad of Belgium was born in Brussels in 1875, and was the nephew of King Leopold II. He bore the title Count of Flanders. Upon his uncle's death in 1909 Albert I assended the throne. He married the Duchess of Bavaria and both proved to be very popular members of the Royal Family.

During the first World War he became aware of the German invasion plans. He immediately warned France and led the Belgians in delaying actions against Germany. On July 31, 1914 he sent a personal letter to the German Kaiser Wilhelm II informing him that Belgium would remain neutral and declined to cooperate with the allies. His letter was ignored and German troops subsequently poured into Belgium.

Albert finally gave in to pressure and cooperated with the allied forces in the final offense of 1918. He remained with his troops throughout the war. He was made commander of the Flanders Army Group by General Foch of France.

Albert loved horse riding and rock climbing, but he died in a mountain climbing accident near Namur in 1934. His death was mourned universally.

He was succeeded by his son Leopold III.

Figures

Hausser / Elastolin and Lineol produced a total of three portrait-figures (7cm scale), which represent King Albert I of Belgium. While one of these figures show Albert standing the other two show him mounted on horse back. Lineol and Hausser started their figure series in 7cm scale only in 1932/33. Because of Albert's death in 1934 there were only two years left, in which these figures represent the actual Belgium King. Therefor all these figures where only produced for a few years years and are hard to find nowadays.

List of References

• Who's Who in World Politics, from 1860 to the present day, Alan Palmer, Routledge, New York, USA, 1996.
• Who's Who in Military History, from 1453 to the present day, John Keegan and Andrew Wheatcraft, Routledge, New York, USA, 1996.

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