Departures of note

Harry Domela, born in 1905 in Kurland, Russian Empire, to German parents, lost his father and brothers in World War I. Too young to join the army corps after the war, he drifted through menial jobs and spent time in prison for experimenting with impostures, including posing as Baron Korff. His breakthrough came in Heidelberg, where he presented himself as 'Prince Lieven of Latvia' while hinting at a deeper identity. Aristocrats noticed his resemblance to Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, grandson of the deposed Kaiser, and soon upper-class circles buzzed with rumors that he was the heir to the German throne traveling incognito.

While traveling in Thuringia and Prussia, pro-monarchy dignitaries and businessmen entertained him at their own expense, though he never asked for or received money. As press attention grew, he suspected his imposture would soon be exposed and decided to leave for France to join the French Foreign Legion. He was arrested while boarding the train and spent seven months in a Cologne prison awaiting trial. During that time, he wrote A Sham Prince: The Life and Adventures of Harry Domela as Written by Himself in Prison at Cologne, January to June 1927. The court ruled his imposture harmless, and he was acquitted.

The book sold well, and Domela sold the movie rights. Two plays were based on his life; he played himself in one and sued the actor in the other, losing the lawsuit. In 1927, he starred in the film The False Prince, based on his own experiences, but by 1930 he had vanished from public life. In 1933, he left Germany for the Netherlands, living under false papers as 'Victor Zsajka'. He befriended Dutch author Jef Last, who introduced him to André Gide, and served with Last in the Spanish Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War.

After the war, Domela stayed in Belgium, then moved to France, where the Vichy regime interned him. Gide helped him leave for Mexico. He later resurfaced as a teacher in Venezuela and contacted Jef Last in 1965. According to research by Weimar-based scholar Jens Kirsten, Domela was last seen in 1978 and died in 1979 in Maracaibo, Venezuela.