Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: gemeente Utrechtse Heuvelrug

Kasteel Amerongen (Amerongen Castle) was built between 1670 and 1684 on the site of a medieval castle, that had been burned down by French troops. The great Dutch house, garden and furnishings form a unit seldom seen in the Netherlands. The castle has a rich family-history, going back 700 years. The owners played an important part in the Dutch and European history. Godard Adriaan van Reede (1621-1691) held a key-position in the insurrection against the French supremacy. As a retribution the house was burnt down by the French in 1673, but rebuilt by his wife Margaretha Turnor in Dutch classicist style. After World War I the German Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941) lived at the castle for 18 months and signed his abdication here in 1918. Kasteel Amerongen is surrounded by historical gardens. The castle itself can be visited (quite limited opening hours) only by a guided tour.

‘Huis Doorn’ was first mentioned in the year of 838 as ‘Villa Thorhem’. Later this ‘Hof Doorn’ was owned by a deanery. Around 1200 the castle is owned by the dean of the cathedral itself and used as monastic grange. The oldest parts of ‘Huis Doorn’ are dating back to the end of the 13th century and (most probably) built by dean Adolf van Waldeck. In 13 22 the castle was completely destroyed and rebuilt twenty-five years later as a moated seat. In the following centuries the castle had many owners and was often renovated and expanded. At the end of the 18th century it was converted into an elegant country house, still with a moat. The surrounding park was laid out as an English landscape garden. At the end of World War I the last German Kaiser Wilhelm II fled to the neutral Netherlands, where he was given political asylum. After a stay in Castle Amerongen he bought ‘Huis Doorn’ in 1919. After extensive alterations he finally moved to Doorn in May 1920, where he lived in exile until his death in June 1941. He is buried in a mausoleum in the gardens (PiP 3). After the German occupation in World War II, the house was seized by the Dutch government as hostile property. Nowadays - still owned by the government - it houses a museum about World War I and the life of Kaiser Wilhelm II in ‘Huis Doorn’.