Bouvigne Castle

Bouvigne Castle is a castle outside the Ginneken district in the Dutch province of North Brabant, near the Mastbos south of Breda. Behind it lies the Markdal.

It has been owned by the Brabantse Delta Water Board since 1972. After restoration between 1975 and 1977, it was reopened by Prince Claus on 13 September 1977.

It is unknown how old the castle is and what it originally looked like. From 1494 there was a walled stone house on the De Boeverie estate near the two farms, one small and one large, already located there. The small farm stood at the intersection of Duivelsbruglaan and Bouvignelaan but went up in flames during the siege of Breda by Spinola in 1624. The large farm had been owned by the Princes of Orange since 1614 and by the state since 1881. In 1941 the farm was destroyed by a V1 rocket but later rebuilt.

As far as is known, the stone house was first mentioned in 1554 in an official deed: the will of the former owner Jacob van Brecht. In this testament, the building was described as a stately stone house surrounded by canals. The mansion has been expanded over time. The first floor of the tower was built on the stone house between 1554 and 1611. In the following three years, several other renovations followed and the tower was increased by a second floor. On 8 October 1614, Prince Philip William of Orange bought the house 'Boeverijen' for 27,000 guilders from his agent and confidant Jean Baptiste Keeremans, who had given it the current Renaissance appearance with his renovations.

Philip-Willem was the eldest son and heir of his murdered father William of Orange. He was Baron of Breda from 1609 to 1618. Keeremans expected an appointment as drossaard of Breda (representative of the prince, comparable to the position of mayor), but the States General rejected his appointment because of his Catholicism and alleged anti-Calvinism.

Bouvigne is a grand mansion and was never used as a hunting lodge. The hunting grounds of the House of Orange were north of the Prinsenhof ( Breda Castle) and near the Liesbos. The Mastbos is a landscaped wood production forest. It is not clear what Philip-Willem used the castle for, he lived on the Prinsenhof. He may have made it available as a steward's residence. A total of eight princes in succession owned the castle.

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

Bouvigne Castle ranks #6,226 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #93 of the 201 mapped in Netherlands. Founded 1554, it is older than 39% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 755 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Breda, 3 km away. See how Netherlands compares in the castle statistics.

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