Hof te Dieren (English: the Court at Dieren) is a former hunting lodge in Dieren, the Netherlands. It was a favourite retreat of the princes of Orange and king-stadtholder William III at the south-eastern border of the Veluwe. Nothing remains of the lodge nor from the 19th century manor house which was built as replacement. The estate is open for visit.
In 1218, Adolf VI, count of Berg (1176-1218), donated his house and surrounding estate in Dieren to the Teutonic Order. They turned the house into a commandery of their order. [1]
The Veluwe were excellent hunting grounds, where William II, Prince of Orange (1626-1650) loved to hunt. [2] In 1647, for a consideration of 147,000 florins, he acquired the commandery of the Teutonic order in Dieren. [2] [3] He repurposed the house as a hunting lodge. [2] A playhouse was constructed on the Rouwenberg hill. [2] Also, a deer park was established, containing deer, foxes, hares and rabbits. [2] It was approximately 1,200 hectares in size, and enclosed by a wall of 20 kilometres. [2] To have sufficient animals to hunt for, the Prince transferred around 300 deer from its estate of Huis Honselaarsdijk to Dieren. [2] When Prince William II died and his son and successor, Prince William III was just born, the deer park was rented out for a period of ten years due to its high maintenance costs. [2]
Like his father, William III (1650-1702) was fond of hunting. [4] In the first part of his reign as stadtholder, he spent as much as ten weeks a year hunting in the Veluwe. The Hof te Dieren was one of his favourite lodges. [4] [5]
When William married Mary Stuart (1662-1694) in 1677, the modest-sized house in Dieren with a number of outbuildings was no longer deemed suitable for the newly-weds. [4] Therefore, William III decided to extend the house between 1679 and 1684. [4] New wings around a court yard were constructed and apartments were added suitable for his retinue. [4] The architect was Jacob Roman. [6] While William was hunting, Mary enjoyed horticulture to pass the time. [4] Therefore, a beautiful garden was laid out containing ponds, fountains, grottoes, arbours, and labyrinths. [4] William's close friend, William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, was closely involved in supervising the laying out and maintenance. [4] [3] Peter Schenk the Elder depicted these gardens in a series of engravings. [4] [3] The palace and the gardens were much admired by visitors as shown in diaries, letters and travel reports. [3]
The Hof te Dieren was not the only palace William and Mary had in the Veluwe. [4] In 1684, William III purchased the medieval castle Het Oude Loo . [4] In its vicinity, he constructed a new summer palace called Het Loo by the design of the architects Jacob Roman and Johan van Swieten. [4] This became the main hunting seat in the Veluwe with Dieren as its satellite or get-away when the Loo was too crowded, like the Trianon palaces to Versailles . [4] Other estates acquired were Hoog-Soeren in 1676, Asselt in 1692, Hoog Buurlo in 1700 and Coldenhove Castle in 1701. [4] William III wanted the latter to also become an impressive hunting lodge like Het Loo. The architect Daniel Marot makes designs for a castle and imposing gardens, but during its re-construction the castle burned down. [5] [7] William and Mary also stayed at the houses their entourage had at the Veluwe, like Middachten Castle of Godert de Ginkel, 1st Earl of Athlone, huis De Voorst of Arnold van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle, or the castle in Rozendaal. [4]
After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, William and Mary became king of queen of England, Ireland, and Scotland in 1689. This triggered a second rebuilding campaign of the Hof te Dieren to make it suitable for royalty. [4] Although, the exterior was unassuming, the interior was lavish and far richer than could be gauged from the outside. [4] There were apartments for close confidants like Arnold van Keppel. [4] The rooms contained many paintings over the doors and chimney pieces by Jakob Bogdani. [4]
After the death of William III, the hunting lodge and estate at Dieren are inherited by John William Friso, prince of Orange (1687-1711). [3] He was succeeded by his son, William IV, Prince of Orange (1711-1751). They did not spend as much time at Dieren as William III and Mary. [3] William IV was married to Anna, Princess Royal (1709-1759). Between 1757 and 1763, she created a forest to the north side of Dieren with hills named after her children, Prince William V and Princess Carolina. [3] William V, Prince of Orange (1748-1806) did not often visit the Hof te Dieren. Still he expanded the domain by acquiring neighbouring estates.
During the Batavian Revolution, Prince William V left the Netherlands. The revolutionaries confiscated the house and estate in 1795. When French soldiers were billeting at the house, the hunting lodge burned down completely and its furnishings were lost. Nothing remains anymore of the pleasure house, except a wall, which once enclosed the gardens.
Marie Cornélie countes of Wassenaer Obdam (1799-1850), owner of Twickel Castle, acquired the Hof te Dieren estate in 1821. [8] She constructed a new manor house in Gothic Revival style, which barely 25 years later was already modernized in more eclectic style. [8] The house was at the centre of an English landscape park designed by Jan David Zocher and Eduard Petzold . [8]
In 1877, the estate was inherited by Rodolphe Frédéric, baron van Heeckeren van Wassenaer. [8] His main residence was the castle in Twickel. [8] The house at Dieren was only used as a second home. [8] Still, the house and the park were well maintained. [8]
In the Second World War, the German occupation force confiscated the house for own use. [8] On 28 December 1944, a fire started in the upper rooms of the house as German soldiers started a fire on the floor due to a lock of stoves. [8] The local fire brigade did not cooperate in fighting the fire. [8] As a result, the entire house burned down. [8] The ruins were demolished in 1965. [8] Where the manor house once stood, a shallow pit is visible in the park. [8]
In 1953, the Twickel Foundation was established with the aim of preserving Twickel as a nature reserve and as a cultural and historical monument. [8] [3] Fort this purpose, the last baroness van Heeckeren van Wassenaer contributed Twickel Castle, its furniture, collections and archive, the accompanying forests and farms to the foundation. When she died in 1975, all her remaining private estates were also transferred by bequest to the Twickel Foundation. Part of this bequest was Hof te Dieren. [8] [3] The Foundation is the owner up to the current day. [8] It operates the Dieren estate as a plant nursery and vineyard. [8] It is open to the general public. [8] The foundation is considering constructing an apartment building in the center of the park. [8]
Apeldoorn is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. The municipality of Apeldoorn, including the of villages of Beekbergen, Loenen, Ugchelen and Hoenderloo, had a population of 165,525 on 1 December 2021. The western half of the municipality lies on the Veluwe ridge, with the eastern half in the IJssel valley.
Hof van Twente is a municipality in the region Twente, in the province Overijssel in the eastern Netherlands. The municipality was established January 1, 2001, as the result of the merger of the municipalities of Diepenheim, Goor, Markelo, Ambt Delden, and Stad Delden.
Rheden is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands.
Paleis Het Loo is a palace in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, built by the House of Orange-Nassau.
Dieren is a town in the eastern Netherlands. It is located in Rheden, Gelderland, between Zutphen and Arnhem, on the bank of the IJssel.
De Hoge Veluwe National Park is a Dutch national park in the province of Gelderland near the cities of Ede, Wageningen, Arnhem and Apeldoorn. It is approximately 55 km2 in area, consisting of heathlands, sand dunes, and woodlands. It is situated in the Veluwe, the area of the largest terminal moraine in the Netherlands. Most of the landscape of the park and the Veluwe was created during the last ice age. The alternating sand dune areas and heathlands may have been caused by human utilization of the surrounding lands. The park forms one of the largest continuous nature reserves in the Netherlands.
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Het Oude Loo is a 15th-century castle on the estate of Het Loo Palace in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. The castle was built as a hunting lodge and is surrounded by a moat. The castle is currently used by the Dutch royal family as a country house and guest residence. It is not open to the public.
Jacob Bicker was a Dutch patrician and merchant. He was a director of the Oostzeevaart, handling grain trade with Riga, since 1618 and a manager of the Dutch East India Company and between 1641-1646 manager of the Wisselbank.
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Batestein Castle was a princely residence in Vianen in the Dutch province of Utrecht, and South Holland. It was the main seat of the Van Brederode family. The castle was famous for its gardens and its sculptures. It has been demolished in the 19th century. Today, not much remains except a gate from the 17th century, a pump and some parts of the walls. A local foundation is working on a partial reconstruction of the gardens.
Duin en Kruidberg is a stately home in Santpoort, near Haarlem, the Netherlands. Kruidberg started as a summer house for rich merchants from Amsterdam, then it became a hunting lodge of the prince of Orange, the future king-stadholder, William III (1650–1702). The plans for the Dutch invasion of England were drawn up here, which culminated in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The estate merged with neighbouring Duin en Berg into Duin en Kruidberg in the 19th century. The current house was constructed by Jacob Theodoor Cremer around 1900 in Dutch Renaissance Revival architecture. The Cremers hosted royalty at the house and held hunting events as well. It was and is one of the largest country houses in the Netherlands. After the Second World War, it became a holiday resort for the employees of a large Dutch bank, ABN AMRO. Later, it was opened for the general public as well.
The Blue Tower was a castle with an imposing stone keep in Gorinchem, the Netherlands. It was a princely residence of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. The complex, which stood there between 1461 and 1578, gained an almost mythical status thanks in part to descriptions by the Gorinchem chronicler Abraham Kemp and the discovery of its foundations in 1983.
The Prinzenhof was a Dutch Baroque palace located in Kleve, Germany, designed by architect Maurits Post for prince Johan Maurice of Nassau-Siegen, the governor of the Duchy of Cleves. Originally built in the mid-17th century, it served as a residence and a symbol of Johan Maurice's influence in the region. By the late 19th century, the palace was repurposed as a hotel. Unfortunately, it was heavily damaged during World War II and was not reconstructed after the war.
