Palace Soestdijk, Baarn

[Stefan]

The goverment still has not found another destination for Soestdijk Palace. The Prime Minister said that in a debate in parlament. The goverment kept postponing it since Dec. 2006 ansd it seems they will keep doing so for the time being.

So will it be longer open to the public then planed? Quiet strange that the had not made plains about what to do with the Place long ago as it was clear that Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard would not live forever.

 

[lucien]

So will it be longer open to the public then planed? Quiet strange that the had not made plains about what to do with the Place long ago as it was clear that Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard would not live forever.

No Stefan,it will just be open till the end of 2009,like planned.
Before it can be used either as a Palace,as I hope,or anything else,
the whole place needs a complete overhaul,everything,from the basement to the roof.
Will take at least 4 years if not more.

 

[Stefan]

No Stefan,it will just be open till the end of 2009,like planned.
Before it can be used either as a Palace,as I hope,or anything else,
the whole place needs a complete overhaul,everything,from the basement to the roof.
Will take at least 4 years if not more.

Thanks. I thought only when they still have not a new destination for it that it can perhaps visitd longer. Was it already announced that it will be renovated. You can ofcourse see it on the pictures that tha Palace is in bad shape. I also hope that it will be used as a Palace in the future. Perhaps they could make it like in denmark that either the Queen or WA and Máxima use it for some time in the year and for the other months it is open to the public.

 

[Marengo]

I don't think that is an option (part-time use), the RF is already under scrutiny for their costs at the moment. The only way they can justify a complete renovation for the RF is when WA and Maxima would go and live there. I don't think they will, the palace is too public and one hour+ away from The Hague.
The government is just clueless about what to do with the building if the RF doesn't want it anymore, personally i wouldn't know what else to do with it either actually, I do hope it will remain property of the state and will have a royal-related or at least state-related function. So no golf resort or conference center svp.

 

[marmi]

It would be sad if it was to be sold, and therefore no longer the state's property.

 

[Stefan]

I don't think that is an option (part-time use), the RF is already under scrutiny for their costs at the moment. The only way they can justify a complete renovation for the RF is when WA and Maxima would go and live there. I don't think they will, the palace is too public and one hour+ away from The Hague.
The government is just clueless about what to do with the building if the RF doesn't want it anymore, personally i wouldn't know what else to do with it either actually, I do hope it will remain property of the state and will have a royal-related or at least state-related function. So no golf resort or conference center svp.

But as Lucien says it has to be renovated anyway. And if it is open to the public it would also bring a little bit money back. The dutch Royal Family does not use many Palaces compared to other Royal Families.

 

[lucien]

It was announced today that the Palace will remain open to the public throughout 2010.The Rijksgebouwendienst has not yet decided on the future use of the Palace.Since the opening over 300.000 people have visited the former home of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard.

 

[lucien]

It was announced today that the Palace will definitely close its doors for the public after 2010 and will be converted into a scientific institute.

Calls to destine it to be a museum were not answered except that we already have a Museum of the Orange Nassau´s with Het Loo Palace.

Personally,I do not like the solution one bit.The Palace is a place for Royals to return to,not nerds.

 

[lucien]

A new,and very extensive (400 pages,50 euro´s),book on Soestdijk Palace and its inhabitants
throughout the centuries was presented today at the Palace.
Pieter van Vollenhoven received the first copy:

PPE Agency

courtesy ppe

 

[lucien]

A new,and very extensive (400 pages,50 euro´s),book on Soestdijk Palace and its inhabitants
throughout the centuries was presented today at the Palace.
Pieter van Vollenhoven received the first copy:

PPE Agency

courtesy ppe

The "Bible" on Soestdijk Palace,a must have:
http://gpdhome.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c648253ef011168a17541970c-pi

 

[Marengo]

The PPE photographer took some pictures of the palace in the snow: PPE Agency

 

[Marengo]

Again the government postponed to make a decision about the future use of Soestdijk palace. The palace grounds will stay open to the public until summer 2011 at least. The tours in the palace will last until December of 2010.

Aftar that it is unclear what will happen, but the ministery of Housing & Spatial Planning said that commercial use of the palace is also possible. It is estimated that the restauration of the palace & park will cost more than 100 million Euros.

 

[Stefan]

Again the government postponed to make a decision about the future use of Soestdijk palace. The palace grounds will stay open to the public until summer 2011 at least. The tours in the palace will last until December of 2010.

Aftar that it is unclear what will happen, but the ministery of Housing & Spatial Planning said that commercial use of the palace is also possible. It is estimated that the restauration of the palace & park will cost more than 100 million Euros.

Strange that the guided tours will end. I don't understant the the simple let not the Palace open for the next few years with the guided tours. When i visited it last summer there quiet a lot of people so that should be not the problem.

 

[Marengo]

On 20 Septemvber there was a press conference of parties involved with Soestdijk Palace. they concluded that the palace should have 'a public function' in the future:

Pleidooi voor publieke rol Paleis Soestdijk - Koninklijk huis - Reformatorisch Dagblad

 

[Marengo]

The Christian Union made a plea in parlament to locate the National Historic Museum in Soestdijk Palace. Plans to build a museum in Arnhem have been cancelled due to budget cuts. The palace has been mentioned before as a location for the new museum, but the renovation costs will be high.

CU: breng NHM onder in paleis Soestdijk - Politiek - Reformatorisch Dagblad

The matter has been discussed in parlament on thursday.

 

[Marengo]

To the regret of many Soestdijk palace closed its doors to visitors on December 31st. But now the rijksgebouwendienst changed their mind again, so it will be opened to the public in March (only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday). They also want to organise other events in the palace, this summer there will be an opera in the garden and there will also be a fashion show in the orangerie.... so I guess that means that they still have no clue at all what to do with the building in the future. I still find it a great pity that Willem-Alexander & family didn't move there, but soit.

Paleis Soestdijk opnieuw open voor publiek - Royalty Online - Royalty - het grootste blad over royals

 

[lucien]

There will be a Christmas sing-a-long in the Soestdijk Palace gardens in the afternoon of wednesday december 28th.Between 13.00PM and 17.00PM you can join in with the choirs in the gardens,you can combine that with a tour of the Palace if you like....A wonderfull idea after days of too much feasting maybe..?..It will be wonderfull!

 

[lucien]

As of january 3rd it is possible to have your wedding at Soestdijk Palace,the Stuc Hall as well as the White Diningroom are up for rent and to have the wedding reception & dinner & etc......hmm...don't know if I like that...I think I wholeheartedly don't..

Also,you can have your festive dinners at the Stuc hall,it accomodates 50,
or book a walking dinner through the Palace...what's next...a McD in the garden.....

 

[lucien]

New exhibition at Soestdijk Palace,on the 200th anniversary of the Monarchy under the House of Orange.

September 13th till january 12th 2014.

Paleis Soestdijk presenteert: Op Soestdijk, 200 jaar koninkrijk

 

[An Ard Ri]

Will you be paying a visit Lucien?
The photo's you've posted so far are all wonderful and a great insight into the Palace interiors.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Its almost haunting to see the family rooms empty now

 

[Warren]

Sorry guys but a large number of images have been removed from this and other threads because the images have been hotlinked.

Hotlinking, otherwise known as direct linking, is very poor internet etiquette. It is akin to an attack on another website by draining that site's bandwidth. It is a practice that is actively discouraged here at TRF.

The free image-hosting sites such as Photobucket, ImageShack etc are specifically designed to host hundreds of millions of photographs and should be the first choice for image-hosting when members wish to illustrate a thread with linked photographs.

Thanks for everyone's cooperation,

Warren
TRF Admin

 

[lucien]

Its almost haunting to see the family rooms empty now

Indeed,as if they never were there...haunting indeed...pics are gone too...without any ado...regardless if of my own collection or not...

I will make new ones Ann,all by myself again and bluntly post them here again and for all to share if they so please.

 

[Warren]

..pics are gone too...without any ado...regardless if of my own collection or not...

Dear lucien, just to clarify and for the benefit of members who may not understand the protocols involved in picture posting, the issue did not relate to ownership or copyright or to whose collection the pictures belonged. It was about hotlinking, which is expressly forbidden by the Forums' Terms of Service. Otherwise you [and everybody else] are free to post as many of your images as you like (complying with copyright law when applicable) as I know members appreciate them. I should also add that some of the photos you had posted were better than those I could find using Google picture search.

 

[lucien]

Dear lucien, just to clarify and for the benefit of members who may not understand the protocols involved in picture posting, the issue did not relate to ownership or copyright or to whose collection the pictures belonged. It was about hotlinking, which is expressly forbidden by the Forums' Terms of Service. Otherwise you [and everybody else] are free to post as many of your images as you like (complying with copyright law when applicable) as I know members appreciate them. I should also add that some of the photos you had posted were better than those I could find using Google picture search.

Grin...why Google if there's me..?.....Thanks anyway Warren!

And more from Soestdijk Palce, still from Thijs of the Alexanderpalace forum.

and more:

another one:

and still one more:

Love the pics,abd loved Thijs being around....until the FA there requested him to STOP posting the pics because of their size as some members there had trouble with their computers downloading them or some infantile reason...Alas..it was reason for Thijs to totally disappear out of sight....Leaving the most beautifull pics...Will copy some like you did and then put them here...

Courtesy Hans!Thank you!!

More rooms of Soestdijk palace (again as posted by Thijs on the Alexanderpalace forum):

The Leuven Hall,a monument to King Willem II by his widow Queen Anna Pavlovna.Still intact.

What I miss are pics of Wilhelmina's rooms to the right of the entrance hall with a view of the front lawn.It was used,for generations,for measurements of the Royal children and has their age at the time of measurement next to it ofcourse....Such fun to watch and see how things where done..not just 200 years ago,but the latest additions too untill the Palace ceased to be a Royal Palace.Pitty..Have "to sneak in" and make some myself when no-one is looking....

And even more, again by Thijs on the Alexanderpalace forum:

The Louvain salon, with on the background the future King Willem II.

This is the Waterloo Hall,dubbed by Queen Juliana as the Hall of Megalomaniacs!.Not the Louvain Salon......To the end left you see the door leading to the Blue Hall...there is nothing blue there...but a lot of 1930's carpenters work...including a private stairway....and the adjacent private diningroom

 

[CyrilVladisla]

In 1806 King Louis Bonaparte took possession of Palace Soestdijk.
Louis had the palace enlarged and furnished in the Empire style.
​

 

[Marengo]

Apaprently the state is not in a hurry to sell the palace. The organisation 'natuurmonumenten'wanted to buy the palace, if the state would subsidise part of it. However, the government building service says it doesn't have a budget and that they are not in a rush and will wait for a suitable buyer.

Paleis Soestdijk hoeft niet verkocht te worden - Royalty Online

I still think it is a pity that WA and Máxima didn't move there.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

I disagree, Huis ten Bosch, where the royal couple will reside is so much more historical and grand. The magnificent Orange Hall alone blows the whole of Soestdijk Palace away. What I saw there was mwoah... nice, but nothing special at all. Plenty of stately homes in the Netherlands with grander interiors...

Soestdijk Palace has a wide lay out, but the whole front is very close to the public road. Everyone walking in the hallways in the side pavillions is visible through the huge glass windows. Soestdijk Palace lacks privacy. Queen Juliana and Bernhard lived there in a time when there was no internet, social media and also no omnipresent cameras around.



Picture: Prince Bernhards walks through one of the side-pavillions, with an aide-de-camp and a valet in his slipstream, visible from the public road: https://www.anpfoto.nl/search.pp?page=1&ShowPicture=1062462&pos=287

 

[Londena]

I found a Groupon the other for entrance to the palace and gardens so I finally went there. It's rather pretty but you can see it needs some love. The old rooms are very pretty and FULL of stuff. Juliana and Bernhard's office's are empty and feel very 80's. We had great weather so I took a ton of pictures, which are on my blog if anyone wants to see. There's only one room where photography isn't allowed, which is basically a sitting room/library.

 

[Marengo]

I thought all furtiture was removed already, in Dam palace they use some furniture from Soestdijk now. But good to hear that the palace isn't completely empty. I never visited the place as I thught it would look depressing.
Although the palace could use some love, it is sad that it won't be getting any. The government doesn't know what to do with the building, it obviously needs to be restaured, which will cost tens of millions. It is rather unlikely that the RF will use it again.