Amerongen Castle

The French army burned Amerongen in 1673 during the invasion of the Republic, and Godard Adriaan van Reede rebuilt it immediately in the Dutch classical manner - a rectangular brick block in a rectangular moat, symmetrical and plain, built between 1674 and 1680, and it survives with its seventeenth and eighteenth-century interiors, kitchens, and a substantial family archive. His wife Margaretha Turnor ran the rebuilding while he was abroad on diplomatic service and their correspondence about it is one of the better documented building histories of the period. In November 1918 Wilhelm II crossed the Dutch border and was received here by the Bentinck family; he stayed at Amerongen for eighteen months and signed his abdication document in this house before moving to Doorn. The formal gardens were restored to the seventeenth-century layout. The Lower Rhine and the Amerongse Berg are beside it.

History

The present house was built between 1674 and 1680, on the site of a medieval castle burned by the French in 1673, as a baroque palace designed by Maurits Post for Godard Adriaan van Reede and his wife Margaretha Turnor. The entrance bridge dates from 1678 and the wooden clock tower beside it from 1728, still with its original clock, and P. J. H. Cuypers added ornaments in the early 20th century (Wikipedia, Amerongen Castle).

What's there

• A house rebuilt after 1673 - Dutch classical, moated, finished by 1680.
• Original interiors and kitchens - with the family archive documenting the rebuild.
• Where Wilhelm II first stayed - eighteen months in 1918-1920 before Doorn.
• Restored formal gardens - laid out again to the seventeenth-century plan.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Good to know

Guided routes with set times and seasonal opening; closed much of the winter. The house is modest compared with the grander Dutch castles - the interest is the documentation and the 1918 episode.

Nearby

Huis Doorn is west; the Utrechtse Heuvelrug rises behind.

Key facts