Slangenburg Castle ( nl, Kasteel Slangenburg) is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in the municipality of

Doetinchem Doetinchem (; Low Saxon: ) is a city and municipality in the east of the Netherlands. It is situated along the Oude IJssel (Old IJssel) river in a part of the province of Gelderland called the Achterhoek. The municipality had a population of in ...

in the province of

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The castle is located in the forest of the same name between the towns of

Varsseveld Varsseveld is a town in the Netherlands, located in the Dutch municipality of Oude IJsselstreek. History Middle Ages At the start of the twelfth century, Varsseveld was part of the County of Lohn, a county within the Holy Roman Empire with its se ...

and Doetinchem, about 5 kilometers from the latter. Slangenburg Castle was constructed in the

Late Medieval The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

period. In the 17th century the castle became the property of General

Frederik Johan van Baer Frederik Johan van Baer, Lord of Slangenburg (27 July 1645 – 15 December 1713) was a Dutch officer in the military service of William III of Orange. Career He was a professed Catholic, and therefore was denied a career in government. A caree ...

, also known as General Slangenburg, who rebuilt it for residential purposes. The last private owners were a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

family called Passmann, who are buried in a private cemetery next to the moat. After the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

all German properties were confiscated by the

Dutch government The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekke, ...

, who thus acquired the castle, which, with the surrounding terrain and the buildings within the outer moat, now forms part of the portfolio of the '' Rijksgebouwendienst'' ("Royal Buildings Service"), while the surrounding area falls under the care of the Dutch environmental agency, the ''

Staatsbosbeheer Staatsbosbeheer, founded in 1899, is a Dutch government organization for forestry and the management of nature reserves. Staatsbosbeheer currently oversees over 250,000 hectares of land in the Netherlands. Usually this land is open to the public ...

''. At present the castle is used as a guesthouse by the nearby

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery, St. Willibrord's Abbey (''Sint-Willibrordabdij''), a newly built structure of the 1950s situated on a part of the castle's former estate. The original monastic community, from

Oosterhout Abbey St. Paul's Abbey, Oosterhout, also Oosterhout Abbey ( nl, Sint-Paulusabdij) is a former Benedictine abbey in Oosterhout, North Brabant, the Netherlands. History St. Paul's Abbey was founded by monks from Wisques Abbey in Wisques in the Pas-de- ...

, was initially accommodated in the castle itself in the years immediately following the war. The estate and the monastery chapel are open to the public. The estate, roughly trapezoid in shape, features a system of lanes which is centuries old.

Gallery

Image:IngangSlangeburg.JPG, Entrance to the castle Image:Zijkantslangenburg.JPG, The castle over the moat File:Doetinchem, kasteel Slangenburg RM527492 positie3 foto4 2012-07-22 13.02.jpg, Outside view Image:INTERIEUR, PORTRET, DETAIL - Doetinchem - 20261164 - RCE.jpg, Detail of the interior

External links

*
Slangenburg Castle: official website

Friends of Slangenburg Castle website
{{in lang, nl Castles in Gelderland Rijksmonuments in Gelderland Doetinchem

Gallery

See also

External links