Palace Het Loo & the Royal Domains, Apeldoorn

[dutch royal]

Here are pictures of paleis het Loo ( made it myself )

[Heidi P.]

Dutch-style castles are unique, some appear small in the photos, but lovely. Castle het Loo, Castel Drakensteyn and Paleis het Loo are very interesting. I would love to see them myself one day. Are any of them open to the public? :)

[Marengo]

Well, that is the calvinistic aproach, don't show of to much. So a stern facade with an unexpected bigger and grand interior :)
The two biggest palaces build (by Stadholder Willem III) were sadly neglected and torn down after the battle about his inheritance by the houses of Nassau-Dillenburg and Brandenburg, so we lost Huize Nieburgh (Naaldwijk) and Palace Honselaarsdijk (Voorschoten), both near The Hague.

[Heidi P.]

Marengo,
The Calvinistic approach: I love the idea that the facade is stern and the interior is more opulent. I will definately have to travel to Holland to really appreciate the dutch style of castle-building. I am sorry to hear the two largest were torn down. Thanks so much for the information, I feel I learned something.:)

[Henri M.]

The pictures are from ANP and uploaded via my own webspace.

Some more pictures from the royal estate Het Loo.
The palace is the heart of the estate. The old castle is hidden in the woods and is very private.
No wonder it is so loved by The Queen.


A salon.






The Fountain of Venus and the Colonnade (background).
Behind the colonnade the old King's Alley leading into the vast forests is under restoration.

[Henri M.]

The pictures are from ANP and uploaded via my own webspace.


The palace, with stunning classic gardens is open for public. Sometimes it is partly closed when it is use by The Queen.
(Since 1975 there is no royal using this palace as a residence. Maybe in the future this can change, depending on the wishes of King Willem IV Alexander).

Now it has a museal function but can always be used by The Queen.
For an example: she received and hosted Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at this palace).
She celebrated her 60th birthday with dozens of many, many royal guests at this palace as well.

The British royal couple with Queen Beatrix: watching fireworks in the palace park





The Queen is very devoted to Het Loo.
For her 60th birthday she ordered a massive work of art to be done in the forests:
60 bronze stumps of trees are planted, exactly following the pillars in the floorplan of the Cathedral of Reims, where all French Kings were crowned.
Due to the natural patina these heavy as lead stumps looks like real.
:)

[fraxales]

I bought a second-hand book recently which must be THE nicest book I've ever seen of The Netherlands, entitled HOLLAND, by Herman Scholten. In it, there's this wonderful picture of Paleis 't Loo.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...PaleistLoo.jpg

[lucien]

Originally Posted by Emily

Wow, Henri m., thank you for this very complete picture show of Het Loo Palace and the Castle! I do have some additional questions that I wonder if you might be able to answer? Is the Old Castle on firm ground or actually built into the water of the moat? What kind of acreage do the castle/palace sit on? (and isn't Princess Margriet's house on the same domain?) Who uses the new Palace and how far is it from the Castle? I find the new Het Loo to be such a beautiful building. So is this a very private domain, then? Can the Imperial CP Couple have freedom to walk on the domain without press intrusion? Thank you for any help you, or others, can give.

The moat is back in place since 1912 or so,it was closed in the 19th century,I believe by Louis Napoleon,but Queen Wilhelmina and
Prince Hendrik jointly dug in their spades to restore the moat to it's original,Wilhelmina's wish.Maybe,Henri can post the pics from the
"memory of the netherlands" site?....

[juliana]

The photos are beautiful, thank you Henri. The Het Loo Palace is Georgian in architecture- term used in all English speaking nations and describes the style that became popular in the era of the George kings; what is the description of that style in The Netherlands?

[Henri M.]

Originally Posted by juliana

The photos are beautiful, thank you Henri. The Het Loo Palace is Georgian in architecture- term used in all English speaking nations and describes the style that became popular in the era of the George kings; what is the description of that style in The Netherlands?

Het Loo is seen as a Palace in Louis XIV-style adapted in a more sober Dutch way. Kensington Palace in London is very similar (not so strange: it got its look under the same William & Mary as Het Loo).

[juliana]

Originally Posted by Henri M.

Het Loo is seen as a Palace in Louis XIV-style adapted in a more sober Dutch way. Kensington Palace in London is very similar (not so strange: it got its look under the same William & Mary as Het Loo).

Yes, Kensington Palace is of the William & Mary era, one large step on from the Baroque and certainly leading to Queen Anne (mostly popular today with furniture style) and then Georgian, about 25 years in all -totally symmetrical and classic and Het Loo and Kensington are fine examples of those changes.

[Thomas Parkman]

Well good people,

I am now going to do something most unDutch, unroyal and undignified but the good and clever Queen Beatrix would forgive me. I am going to pant, slurp and drool. This sight has the same orgiastic effect on me as royal jewelry and ceremony. It is all of one piece: pure magic. I am so grateful to Henri and the other members for creating this incredible collage. Now you will excuse me while I go off into a corner and just bliss out. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Thomas Parkman

PS. As I have known for a long time the good Queen Wilhelmina was nobody's fool and was something else. Clever, shrewd and wise. Quite a combination.

[Marengo]

Now up to Apeldoorn to see something of the interior of Palace het Loo. The pictures are again provided by Thijs at the Alexander Palace forum.

Bedroom of Queen Mary II, Princess of Orange:



Another view of her bedroom:



The bedroom of Stadholder/King Willem III



Another state bedroom:

[Marengo]

The portrait gallery of Palace 't Loo.

On the right, below you can see King Frederik and Queen Elisabeth of Bohemia aka the winterking and winterqueen. On their left is a portrait of Louise de Coligny, 4th wife of Prince Willem I and daughter of Admiral Count Gaspard de Coligny:



Another view of the portrait gallery with a painting of the breastfeeding Princess Sophie-Hedwig of Nassau-Dietz, nee Pss of Brunswick.



Another picture of the gallery. The painting 2nd of the right shows King/Stadholder Willem III:



Last picture of the portrait gallery, with portraits of Sadholder Frederik-Hendrik, his wife Princess Amalia and one of their daughters (on the right), probably their eldest one Louise-Henriette, future electress of Brandenburg:



pictures again provided by Thijs at the Alexander Palace forum.

[Marengo]

Studyroom of Queen Wilhelmina. The small statue on the fireplace is Admiral Gaspard de Coligny. One of the anscestors she admired most:



Drawingroom of her husband Prince Hendrik:



Pictures provided by Thijs at the Alexander palace forum

[Marengo]

Room of King Willem I with huge portraits of him and his daughter Princess Marianne on the wall:



Room of King Willem III, with a picture of Queen Emma and her daughter Wilhelmina on the wall:



(Ghastly) detail form that room:



pictures provided by Thijs at the Alexander Palace forum.

[Marengo]

Room of Queen Anna (the furniture originally stood in Palace Soestdijk), I believe she m,ade some of the embroidery herself. The large painting on the wall is of her husband King Willem II:



The moor cabinet of Queen Sophie, 1st wife of King Willem III:



Salon of Princess Anna of Great-Britain & Hannover, wife of Sadholder Willem IV. Their portraits are on the walls:



pictures provided by Thijs at the Alexander Palace forum.

[Marengo]

Private cabinet of Stadholder/King Willem III:



Pricate cabinet of his wife Mary II:



Ceiling detail from a room in the palace:



pictures again provided by Thijs at the Alexader palace forum.

[Marengo]

A picture of the Hall on the 1st floor:



A room in the palace:



Dining room of Stadholder/King Willem III:



Library of Stadholder/King Willem III:



pictures provided by Thijs at the Alexander Palace forum.

[Marengo]

Lots of pictures of Palace het Loo, Castle het Oude Loo, the stables, the estate etc.:

Het Loo Palace