| Alden Biesen Castle | |
|---|---|
 View from within the French garden | |
  Location within Belgium | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Classicism |
| Location | Rijkhoven |
| Country | Belgium |
| Coordinates | 50°50′30″N5°31′14″E / 50.8417°N 5.5206°E |
| Construction started | 16th century |
| Completed | 18th century |
| Owner | Flemish Government |
| Website | |
| www | |
Alden Biesen is a 16th-century castle in the small village of Rijkhoven, municipality of Bilzen, province of Limburg, Belgium.
The castle is used today as a cultural centre and conference centre. Festivals including the Scottish weekend and the International Story Festival are held there. "European Classes" are also held there, intended to foster international learning and collaboration between students. The first ever RSPBA Major Pipe Band Championship held outside the UK was the European Pipe Band Championships held there in September 2003.
In addition to the moated castle, the complex contains a church and gardens.
The knights of the Teutonic Order founded the Landcommanderij Alden Biesen ("commandery of Alden Biesen") in the 11th century, but the current buildings were constructed between the 16th and 18th centuries. [1] It was the headquarters of a bailiwick or province of the Teutonic Order in the region of the Maas and Rhine. On 8 March 1971 the building burnt down; it was acquired by the government, and restored.
The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society c. 1190 in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. Its members have commonly been known as the Teutonic Knights, having historically served as a crusading military order for the forced conversion to Catholicism in the Holy Land and the Baltics during the Middle Ages, as well as providing military protection for Catholics in Eastern Europe.
Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–1998) and the Pomeranian Voivodeship (1921–1945). Since 1999, Toruń has been a seat of the local government of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and is one of its two capitals, together with Bydgoszcz. The cities and neighboring counties form the Bydgoszcz–Toruń twin city metropolitan area.
Limburg is a province in Belgium. It is the easternmost of the five Dutch-speaking provinces that together form the Region of Flanders, one of the three main political and cultural sub-divisions of modern-day Belgium.
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Eijsden is a village situated in the very south of the European country the Netherlands. It is located in the southwestern part of the province of Limburg.
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the third largest city and the capital of its eponymous county, as well as the only major seaport in Lithuania.
Bilzen is a city and a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg.
The State of the Teutonic Order, also called Deutschordensstaat or Ordensstaat, was a medieval Crusader state, located in Central Europe along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. It was formed by the knights of the Teutonic Order during the 13th century Northern Crusades in the region of Prussia. The Livonian Brothers of the Sword merged in 1237 with the Teutonic Order of Prussia and became known as its branch, the Livonian Order, while their state became a part of the Teutonic Order State. At its greatest territorial extent, in the early 15th century, it encompassed Chełmno Land, Courland, Gotland, Livonia, Neumark, Pomerelia, Prussia and Samogitia, i.e. territories nowadays located in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.
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Rijkhoven is a village in the Bilzen municipality of the Limburg province in the Flemish Community of Belgium.
The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork is a 13th-century Teutonic castle and fortress located near the town of Malbork, Poland. It is the largest castle in the world measured by land area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bauska Castle is a complex consisting of the ruins of an earlier castle and a later palace on the outskirts of the Latvian city of Bauska.
Klaipėda Castle, also known as Memelburg or Memel Castle, is an archeological site and museum housed in a castle built by the Teutonic Knights in Klaipėda, Lithuania, near the Baltic Sea. The Teutons called the castle Memelburg or Memel, and Klaipėda was generally known as Memel until 1923, when Lithuanian military forces took over the city. The castle was first mentioned in written sources in 1252, and underwent numerous destructions and reconstructions in the centuries that followed. During the 19th century, having lost its strategic importance, the castle was demolished. Archeological work was performed at the site during the 20th century, and in 2002 a museum was established underneath one of its bastions. Currently, the castle is being restored. The construction work is not scheduled to finish until 2020.
Homecoming Scotland 2009 was a series of events designed to attract people of Scottish ancestry to visit Scotland. The campaign, organised by EventScotland and VisitScotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, and part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, claimed that "for every single Scot in their native land, there are thought to be at least five more overseas who can claim Scottish ancestry."
Diepenbeek Castle is a castle in Diepenbeek near Hasselt in the province of Limburg, Belgium. The building consists of a 15th-century keep with a 17th-century main block. It was once the establishment of the steward of the nearby Commandery of Alden Biesen, whence the alternative name.
Luc Ponet is a Belgian organist, academic and board member of Nationaal Instituut voor de Orgelkunst.
Antwerp is the largest city in Belgium by area at 204.51 km2 (78.96 sq mi) and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 536,079, it is the most populous municipality in Belgium, and with a metropolitan population of around 1,200,000 people, it is the second-largest metropolitan region in Belgium, second only to Brussels.
The Bailiwick of Utrecht of the Teutonic Order is a chivalric order based in Utrecht, Netherlands. It originated in 1231 as a division of the order of Teutonic Knights. During the Protestant Reformation most of the members became Protestant, mainly Reformed or Lutheran. The Bailiwick cut its ties with the order based in the Holy Roman Empire and placed itself under the protection of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. The order was briefly suppressed during the Napoleonic era, but revived in 1815 after the restoration of the House of Orange. In 1995 it returned to the Duitse Huis as its headquarters, a building that dates from 1348.
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