Pinnable

The history of Amerongen Castle dates back to the year 1286. Like any proper castle, it was destroyed & rebuilt several times during the centuries that followed; the current castle was built between 1674 and 1684, after its precursor was burned down by French troops in 1673. King Louis XIV had invaded the Dutch Republic the year before, and to finance the war effort, his intendant in Utrecht demanded loadsamoney from the occupied territories’ propertied residents, under threat of burning down their estates. Amerongen Castle’s lord & master Godard Adriaan van Reede, who was the Dutch ambassador to Brandenburg-Prussia at the time, didn’t give in, and it was left mainly to his wife Margaretha Turnor, who did not join her husband abroad, to oversee the construction of a new mansion in Dutch classicist style after Louis withdrew his troops from the Republic.

The entrance to the castle is reached by a double-decked bridge across the moat — the upper level, which leads to the main hall, was meant for the family & their guests, while the lower level, leading to the basement, was for the servants, and today, is for visitors. The drawing room on the main floor, which commands a fine prospect of the wetlands along the Nederrijn river, features two marble mantelpieces from Dresden with equestrian portraits of Friedrich Wilhelm & his consort Dorothea, a gift from the Great Elector of Brandenburg himself, who also donated a hundred oak trees for the reconstruction of the castle. Other rooms that are of special interest are the dining room & the gobelin room on the bel étage, both refurbished around 1900 by architect Pierre Cuypers, who also built the Rijksmuseum & De Haar Castle. The imposing picture gallery on the upper floor, reminiscent of the one at the Mauritshuis, gives access to the private rooms, including those where the German Emperor Wilhelm II initially stayed after he fled the world stage in 1918.

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