Kasteel Helmond

Helmond castle was begun around 1325 by Jan Berthout van Berlaer and is the largest square moated castle in the Netherlands - four wings around a courtyard with round corner towers, brick, standing in water, and now in the middle of a working town rather than in a field, because Helmond grew around it. The lords of Helmond held it until the eighteenth century; from 1923 to 1978 it served as the town hall, and it has been the municipal museum since. The collections cover the town's textile industry, which is what Helmond was, along with art and the history of the building. Around it the town has a second castle-like building, the Speelhuis, and a set of cube houses by Piet Blom of the same design as the better-known Rotterdam ones - Blom built here first, in the 1970s, and the Helmond set is the prototype.

History

Work on the present castle began around 1325, replacing an older one, 't Oude Huys, a few hundred metres west, whose foundations were excavated in 1981. It passed from the van Berlaer family to the van Cortenbach family in 1433 and to the Arberg family in 1683, survived a fire in 1549, was handed to the municipality in 1921 and served as the town hall from 1923 (Wikipedia, Helmond Castle).

What to look for

• The largest square moated castle - four wings and corner towers, begun about 1325.
• A castle as town hall - the municipal offices in it from 1923 to 1978.
• A textile town museum - the industry Helmond lived on, with art alongside.
• Blom's first cube houses - the 1970s prototypes for the Rotterdam set.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Before you go

Closed Mondays. The museum is regional in scale. Helmond is a working industrial town and the surroundings are ordinary. The cube houses are private homes.

Nearby

Eindhoven is west; the Peel and Strabrechtse Heide are south.

Key facts