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Hofwijck (; or Vitaulium in Latin) is a mansion built for 17th-century politician
Constantijn Huygens Sir Constantijn Huygens, Lord of Zuilichem ( , , ; 4 September 159628 March 1687), was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was also secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist C ...
. It is located in
Voorburg Voorburg is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it makes up the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has a population of about 39,000 people ...
on the Vliet canal from
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
to
Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...
. Formal address of the cultural heritage is 2 Westeinde, Voorburg, the Netherlands, but its location today is better known as the
Voorburg railway station Voorburg is a railway station located in Voorburg, Netherlands on the Gouda–Den Haag railway. The station was opened on 1 May 1870 and The train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS; ; en, "Dutch Rail ...
.


Construction

After he became a widower, Huygens bought land on the Vliet in Voorburg with plans to build a summer home. At the time it was quite fashionable to have a summer home on a river or canal, and old maps of Voorburg show Hofwijck as one of many. The building itself and the gardens (originally on both sides of the Vliet) were designed by Huygens himself in cooperation with the architect
Jacob van Campen Jacob van Campen (2 February 1596 - 13 September 1657) was a Dutch artist and architect of the Dutch Golden Age, Golden Age. Life He was born into a wealthy family at Haarlem, and spent his youth in his home town. Being of noble birth and wit ...
. The estate was to be "a harmonious piece of paradise on earth, with a garden in God’s image and likeness." Huygens was very much inspired by the works of classical Roman architect
Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled ''De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribute ...
.
Pieter Post Pieter Post in 1651. Portrait by Pieter Nolpe, detail of a larger work Pieter Jansz Post (1 May 1608 – buried 8 May 1669) was a Dutch Golden Age architect, painter and printmaker. Biography Post was baptised in Haarlem, the son of a ...
was in charge of the actual building activities. The building was erected in unplastered brick and is in the Classicist style. It stands in the centre of a square ''swan'' pond. Hofwijck was inaugurated in 1642 in the company of friends and relatives.


Replica in China

A replica of Hofwijck was built in Gaoqiao (Chinese 高桥) a planned city and neighborhood of the large community
Pudong Pudong is a district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank, directly across from the west bank or Puxi, the historic city ...
,
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
,
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
at , next to another replica of the
Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum The National Maritime Museum ( nl, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, ) is a maritime museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The museum had 419,060 visitors in 2012. It ranked as 11th most visited museum in the Netherlands in 2013. The museum had 300,00 ...
.


Collection

In the collection on display are various items from the Dutch Royal family that have to do with the work of either Constantijn or his son Christiaan. In the display room for Christiaan, various types of clockworks are shown, as well as some original clocks. Family paintings and furniture are on display throughout the building, and the library of Huygens (now a small office) contains many of his books, and offers the same strategic view out of the window at any boat that may appear (today one only sees highway traffic at eye level, and barge traffic at water level). File:Hofwijck from east side.JPG, Hofwijck from the station. File:Hofwijck display of pendulum and clocks.JPG, Christiaan Huygens room, with pendulum from the church in
Scheveningen Scheveningen is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict (''wijk'') of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is po ...
. File:Hofwijck kitchen hearth.jpg, Hofwijck kitchen hearth. File:Hofwijck swan pie.JPG, Swan pie - Huygens kept swans by Royal permission. File:Hofwijck poem by Huygens on display at Hofwijck.JPG, Poem about Hofwijck on display. File:Christiaan-huygens4.jpg, Pastel portrait of Christiaan in 1686 by Bernard Vaillant, which hangs above a pendant portrait of his sister Susanna. File:Frederik Hendrik (1584-1647), prins van Oranje (Atelier of Gerard van Honthorst, 1650).jpg,
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange Frederick Henry ( nl, Frederik Hendrik; 29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647) was the sovereign prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1625 until his death in 1647. In the last ...
, by
Gerard van Honthorst Gerard van Honthorst (Dutch: ''Gerrit van Honthorst''; 4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch Golden Age painting, Dutch Golden Age painter who became known for his depiction of artificially lit scenes, eventually receiving the nickn ...
, 1650. File:Amalia van Solms (Gerard van Honthorst, 1650).jpg, Pendant portrait
Amalia van Solms-Braunfels Amalia may refer to: People *Amalia (given name), feminine given name (includes a list of people so named) *Princess Amalia (disambiguation), several princesses with this name Films and television series * ''Amalia'' (1914 film), the first ...


After Constantijn's death

When Constantijn died, his son, the scientist
Christiaan Huygens Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , , ; also spelled Huyghens; la, Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor, who is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of ...
, came to live there. In 1750 the last Huygens to live there sold it. Grossly neglected in later years, it was auctioned for demolition in 1849, which was avoided when it was acquired by politician
Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer (21 August 1801 – 19 May 1876), was a Dutch politician and historian; he was born in Voorburg, near The Hague. Overview Groen is a Dutch historical icon. He was an educated and devout man of the Dutch middle cla ...
. The "Hofwijck Association" acquired it circa 1913, when demolition loomed again. It is now a museum, which opened its door for the first time on June 12, 1928. It closed its doors in 1995 for restoration of the gardens and building and reopened since May 31, 2005 in presence of
Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband ...
. On November 4, 2002, Hofwijck became a registered Monument as number 508184.Monument number: 508184 Hofwijck Westeinde 2 2275 AD te Voorburg
Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, 22 Dezember 2017


Trivia

*Huygens had Hofwijck built so he would have a place to escape the tensions that life as a politician brought with it, and its name reflects this: "hof" means "(royal) court" and "wijck" means "escape". However, it has more than one meaning, because "hof" can also mean "garden" and "wijck" can also mean "place". The Latin name has a double meaning too: Vitaulium means "garden of life" as well as "garden of Vitruvius". *From 1950 to 1970 this house was on the Dutch 25 guilder note. *Until 2006, the Dutch ''intercity'' trains stopped in Voorburg. This was the condition requested of the Dutch railway board by the city of Voorburg, when they gave a large piece of the garden to the building of the rails in the 19th century. Overzicht met vijver - Voorburg - 20245403 - RCE.jpg, Hofwijck in 1914, temporary extended Kasteel Hofwijck.jpg, Most Visitors came by
Trekschuit Trekschuit (, literally ''"tug-boat"'', but true meaning ''"tugged-boat"'') is an old style of sail- and horse-drawn boat specific to the Netherlands, where it was used for centuries as a means of passenger traffic between cities along ''trekv ...
s. The suppliers door is under the bridge. Hofwijck-Voorburg.png, Most visitors originally arrived by
trekschuit Trekschuit (, literally ''"tug-boat"'', but true meaning ''"tugged-boat"'') is an old style of sail- and horse-drawn boat specific to the Netherlands, where it was used for centuries as a means of passenger traffic between cities along ''trekv ...
, so this is the ''rear view of the house'', and the door for deliveries was under the little bridge. Voorbuerg Station - perrons.jpg, Voorburg railway station. On the right is the Hofwijck gatehouse. Voorburg station.jpg, Voorburg station from the ground, the pond is part of the original garden.


Poem about Hofwijck

De groote webb is af; en ’t Hof genoegh beschreven: Eens moet het Hofwijck zijn. wie kent den draed van ’t leven, Hoe kort hij is, hoe taeij? de snaer die heldste luijdt Scheidt d’eerste menighmael van leven en van Luijt, Verkracht en over-reckt, of met der tijd versleten. .. 'k Wil Hofwijck, als het is, 'k wil Hofwijck, als 't zal wezen, de vreemdeling doen zien, de Hollander doen lezen.


See also

*
Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...


References


External links


Official site of museum
(archive.org from Leiden University) (See Talk:Hofwijck/Sources in case of unclarity.) {{Authority control Architecture in the Netherlands Monuments and memorials in the Netherlands Buildings of the Dutch Golden Age Museums in South Holland Historic house museums in the Netherlands Biographical museums in the Netherlands Leidschendam-Voorburg