Amerongen Castle

Amerongen Castle (Dutch: Kasteel Amerongen) was built between 1674 and 1680, on the site of a medieval castle that had been burned down by the French in 1673. The gardens still contain historic elements such as a conservatory dating from the 1890s. In 1918, the former German Kaiser Wilhelm II signed his abdication here and stayed till 1920, when he moved to Huis Doorn.

The current building was designed by the architect Maurits Post as a baroque palace for the owners Godard Adriaan van Reede and his wife Margaretha Turnor. In the main hall a central staircase with painted ceiling was built by Willem van Nimwegen. Other ornaments were added in the early 20th century by P.J.H. Cuypers. The gardens contain historical elements and the walls predate 1673. Near the entrance bridge dating from 1678 is a wooden clock tower from 1728 that contains the original clock of the same date. In the north-east corner of the gardens is an orangerie dating from the 1880s, and the north wall was raised during the period when Wilhelm II was residing there 1918-1920. He abdicated in Amerongen then moved to Huis Doorn.

From 2002-2011 the castle was restored as a partnership between the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed and various funds in the cultural heritage sector. To celebrate the completion of the restoration activities, from July 1, 2011 till June 21, 2012, a video installation by Saskia Boddeke and Peter Greenaway was presented to visitors at the castle. Through sophisticated video projections visitors are taken back in time to 21 June 1680. In 37 minutes the story is told on 21 different screens throughout the castle. The castle functions today as a museum and is open from 11 to 5 PM from Thursday to Sunday.

Text adapted from “Amerongen Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Amerongen Castle ranks #1,608 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #13 of the 200 mapped in Netherlands. Founded 1662, it is older than 26% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 580 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,345 times in the last 60 days, more than 77% of the atlas. 16 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Utrecht, 25 km away. See how Netherlands compares in the castle statistics.

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