The Kotze Scandal: Orgies, Blackmail, and Duels That Rocked the Court of the Last German Emperor in 1891

Swinger-style parties and orgies involving blue-blooded aristocrats and authorities sparked one of the biggest sex scandals to shake the German Royal Court.

In a report published by The Guardian in 2010, titled Sex parties, bloody duels and blackmail: life at court of last German emperor, Berlin historian Wolfgang Wippermann recounts how "a select group of Prussia's blue-bloods first met at the invitation of Princess Charlotte, the older sister of Kaiser Wilhelm II, at Jagdschloss Grunewald, a hunting lodge in the woods of western Berlin, in 1891."

The group included the brother-in-law of Wilhelm II, the German chamberlain Leberecht von Kotze, a host of aristocrats and a foreign ministry state secretary. Spiegel magazine, which reveals the details of the party, describes "unbridled sex sessions, in which the participants drank and danced, as well as experimenting with a variety of different sexual positions," according to The Guardian.

The party turned into a nightmare for the participants when every private detail, including the sex acts that were performed, was made public. This was done through a series of letters sent to the participants, which also included X-rated drawings to make it graphic. These letters were sent by an anonymous sender who threatened to reveal the names of the participants who took part in the orgy. This broke into a huge political scandal when the incident of the orgy reached the emperor and other high-ranking officials. When the king learnt that his chamberlain, Kotze, was involved, Kaiser Wilhelm had him imprisoned. After his release, Kotze's mission became to find the blackmailer, and he started challenging the male partygoers to a duel, and was killed in one of the duels.

The mystery of the letter sender remains, but some historians believe that it was Princess Charlotte, who loved a good scandal and had died after a lengthy psychiatric treatment in 1919.

Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from People, Lifestyle and around the world.