The gardens of the palace were formal French Renaissance gardens constructed in 1636. In front of the palace were trees and parterres enclosed by walls. Behind the palace was a larger garden with four rectangular ponds.
The building was demolished in 1790 after years of neglect. At present, the area is woodland known as the Rijswijkse Bos. The only reminders of the palace are two of the ponds and an obelisk, the Needle of Rijswijk, commemorating the peace treaty.
Building
In 1630, Stadtholder Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange bought the old Huis ter Nieuwburg from Philibert Vernatti for ƒ30,000 (€13,613). The house was located in the Plaspolder, a polder in the village Rijswijk, in between the cities The Hague and Delft.[2] At that time, The Hague was the political center of the Dutch Republic where the States-General assembled, and Delft was the city where Prince Frederick Henry was born and where his father William the Silent had his residence and was assassinated and buried in 1584.[3]
Between 1630 and 1632, the Prince of Orange bought more land and two houses in the area surrounding the house in order to build a new country house on the location of Vernatti's old house. The project of the new Huis ter Nieuwburg was tendered in 1630. The first pavilions of the palace were finished in 1632 and its roof was completed in 1636.[2] During his life, Prince Frederick Henry had built large houses in the latest styles in architecture and by the best available architects.[4] It is probable that the French architect Simon de la Vallée had helped to carry out designs of this palace and its interiors.[2]
The symmetrical building was designed in the architectural style of French Classicism.[2] The plan of the large building also reflects the new ideas from the villa buildings of Andrea Palladio who influenced architects like van Jacob van Campen, Pieter Post and Pilip Vingboons. The corps de logis with the main chambers of the palace was positioned on the axis of symmetry.[5] At the back of the corps de logis was a lodge looking out on the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft through a corridor along the axis in the garden.[3] In this church is the mausoleum of his father William the Silent and the crypt where Prince Frederick Henry's parents, brother, and two daughters were buried at the time the palace was built.[6] Both on the east and the west side of the corps de logis is a wing, perpendicular to the axis, with a pavilion at the end.[5]
The symmetricalpalace was finished in 1636; front view by Petrus Schenck
Gardens
The geometric Late Renaissance gardens and ponds were constructed by 1636.[2] They were carried out by André Mollet, son of the famous French garden architect Claude Mollet who served the French kings Henry IV and Louis XIII. They were illustrated as they had become fully developed and matured in Jan van Vianen's engraving after Peter Schenk the Elder, which records the grand diplomatic gathering that led to the Treaty of Ryswick, signed in the house. The entire garden was surrounded by a rectangle of canals that drained the ground and formed the equivalent of a moat;[7] around its inner banks allées of trees isolated the pleasure grounds from the featureless agricultural landscape outside.[8]
Entry was across one of three bridges and through a formal woodland or bocage, through which three drives were pierced: the central one led through a free-standing Doric portal—guarded by sentry-boxes on this occasion—that was centred on a pedimented central gate in the mock-battlemented wall that enclosed the paved and cobbled forecourt.[9] Right and left of this axial entrance, reserved during the treaty negotiations for the Mediator, were matching unemphasised entrances—perhaps opened in the walling for the occasion[10]—destined, as the engraving's legend specifies, for the French representatives on the right and for those of the Allies on the left; clearly, this will have avoided tense protocol confrontations over which coach would enter the cour d'honneur first.
The north front of the Huis with its paired corner pavilions was separated from the forecourt by a low balustraded terrace that created a privileged zone that protected the parade rooms from the immediate clatter of the courtyard and the inconvenient leavings of horses. For the duration of the negotiations, temporary brick walls had been erected to divide the entrance court from its flanking parterre gardens; in ordinary times, openings in the terrace balustrade and a few steps gave direct access to these gardens, where fruit trees were espaliered against the brick walls.[11]
The palace and gardens during the negotiations of the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, engraved by Jan van Vianen after Peter Schenck the Elder
The central axis continued through the central rooms of the corps de logis and was extended as a wide gravelled walk down the axis of the pleasure grounds, which it divided symmetrically on either side; at the far end, the enclosing narrow band of trees drew back in a semi-circular exedra that parted at the center to afford a view of the church steeple of Delft on the horizon, centred on the garden axis.[12]
The grounds thus enclosed and divided featured a symmetrical suite of six parterres that were planted—rather than with the clipped patterns relieved with colored gravel of André Le Nôtre's Garden à la française manner—as formal bosquets of trees laid out quincunx-fashion and separated by wide gravelled walks. In the four outer corners of the grounds that were articulated by these shady sections were four rectangular ponds, the vijvers of which two survive today. At the outside front corners were a pair of mock fortifications with corner bastions all in tightly-clipped evergreens, entered by arched doorways.[13]
One of two ponds from the gardens of the palace in the Rijswijkse Bos
Two separate gardens enclosed by brick walls extended east and west of the end pavilions. The eastward one was planted with evergreens surrounding a circular central rockwork fountain, from which is derived its name De Rots, "The Rockery". The westward one was the De Meloen Tuin, the melon garden.
Owners and tenants
The palace was built as a country house and used by the Princes of Orange, the stadtholders of six of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic, and the de facto rulers of the country.[14]
The Needle of Rijswijk, commemorating the Treaty of Ryswick of 1697
After the death of King William III of England, who was also the Prince of Orange, the house was under the supervision of the Nassause Domeinraad (English: "Domain Council of Nassau") from 1702 to 1732. After the inheritance of King William III was settled, the palace became the property of Frederick William I of Prussia in 1732. His successor, Frederick the Great, gave the palace back to William IV, Prince of Orange, as an act of friendship.[2]
In 1753, the palace was rented to Count Golofkin, ambassador for Tsarina Elizabeth of Russia.[2]
Demolition
In 1789, the architect P.W. Schonk advised William V, Prince of Orange to demolish the palace, because it had been neglected for years. Also he advised that the money raised by selling properties and real estate be used for a monument for the Treaty of Ryswick. Following this advice, the palace was demolished in 1790 and the stables and the coach-house were sold in 1793.[2] The Needle of Rijswijk was built in 1792 to 1794 to commemorate the peace treaty.[16]
At present, the area around the obelisk is woodland known as the Rijswijkse Bos, which is open to the public. The only other reminders of Huis ter Nieuwburg are two rectangular ponds from the French gardens, now enclosed in woodland.[citation needed]
The House of Orange-Nassau is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, particularly since William the Silent organised the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) led to an independent Dutch state. William III of Orange led the resistance of the Netherlands and Europe to Louis XIV of France and orchestrated the Glorious Revolution in England that established parliamentary rule. Similarly, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was instrumental in the Dutch resistance during World War II.
William V was Prince of Orange and the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He went into exile to London in 1795. He was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau until his death in 1806. In that capacity, he was succeeded by his son William.
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.
Rijswijk, formerly known as Ryswick in English, is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was 59.642 in 2024, and it has an area of 14.49 km2 (5.59 sq mi), 0.53 km2 (0.20 sq mi) of which is water.
Paleis Het Loo is a palace in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, built by the House of Orange-Nassau.
The Peace of Ryswick, or Rijswijk, was a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Rijswijk between 20 September and 30 October 1697. They ended the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years' War between France and the Grand Alliance, which included the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire.
Prince of Orange is a title associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by the stadtholders of, and then the heirs apparent of, the Netherlands.
Frederick Henry was the sovereign prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from his older half-brother's death on 23 April 1625 until his death on 14 March 1647. In the last seven years of his life, he was also the stadtholder of Groningen (1640-1647).
Huis ten Bosch is a royal palace in The Hague, Netherlands. It is one of three official residences of the Dutch monarch; the two others being the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague and the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.
Honselersdijk is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is home to the historic Huis Honselaarsdijk, former palatial estate of the Dutch Princes of Orange. Huis Honselaarsdijk was one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture and grounds in the history of The Netherlands. Today, only part of the outbuildings remain, and these are referred to locally as "De Nederhof".
André Mollet was a French garden designer, the son of Claude Mollet—gardener to three French kings—and the grandson of Jacques Mollet, gardener at the château d'Anet, where Italian formal gardening was introduced to France.
Huis Honselaarsdijk is a former palace and country residence of the Dutch Stadtholders and princes of Orange which lies about 2.6 km southwest of the border of The Hague, the Netherlands. It was one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture in The Netherlands. Today, only part of the outbuildings remain and are known locally as De Nederhof.
The Needle of Ryswick or Rijswijk is an obelisk in Rijswijk, the Netherlands, commemorating the Treaty of Ryswick.
Christiaen van Couwenbergh, was a Dutch Golden Age painter.
Saarbrücken Castle is a Baroque château in Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland. It is located in the district of Alt-Saarbrücken on the left bank of the Saar. Earlier, a medieval castle and a Renaissance castle stood on the same site.
Simon de la Vallée (1590–1642) was a French-Swedish architect. The first architect in Sweden to have received formal academic training, he created the Swedish school of architecture.
Manuel António of Portugal was a Portuguese nobleman.
The Act of Guarantee of the hereditary stadtholderate was a document from 1788, in which the seven provinces of the States General and the representative of Drenthe declared, amongst other things, that the admiralty and captain-generalship were hereditary, and together with the hereditary stadtholderate would henceforth be an integrated part of the constitution of the Dutch Republic. Moreover, members of the House of Orange-Nassau would have the exclusive privilege to hold the office. The Act was in force until the Batavian Republic was established in 1795.
Triumph of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange is a painting by the Flemish painter Jacob Jordaens, signed and dated at the bottom left "J JOR fec / 1652". It is located in the Oranjezaal in the Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Hof te 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.
1 2 Poelhekke, J.J. (2008). "Hoofdstuk XXXI". Frederik Hendrik. Prins van Oranje. Een biografisch drieluik (in Dutch). Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
↑ Poelhekke, J.J. (2008). "Hoofdstuk XXVI". Frederik Hendrik. Prins van Oranje. Een biografisch drieluik (in Dutch). Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
↑ Outhouses overhanging the moat, into one of which a figure is hastening, appear in Schenck's detailed view.
↑ This is unlike the French ideal of a formal garden cut out of surrounding forest.
↑ The cobbles have been misleadingly tinted green in the modern watercoloring applied to this engraving; the movements of coaches in the forecourt of both engravings show that it could not have been turfed.
↑ They do not appear in the engraving of 1665 (illustration).
↑ The engraving shows how the temporary walls ran up to the central pier of the four-bay pavilions, dividing them abruptly in half, and leaving the opening in the terrace balustrade to one side, hard against the partition.
↑ The 1697 engraving emphasises this distant end-point of the garden axis by centering both axis and steeple in the bird's-eye view.
↑ Perhaps since there were two, absolutely equal, they had been run up as green-painted trelliswork covered with vines, specifically for the treaty negotiations, whose distinctly galante social character is indicated by the staffage of the van Vianen engraving, of groups of fashionable ladies, gentlemen saluting passing coaches with courtly bows, running footmen, pages, dogs and the occasional beggar rewarded with a coin.
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