Cannenburg Castle ( Dutch: Kasteel De Cannenburgh) or Cannenburch Castle ( nl, Cannenburch) is a watercastle 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 ...

. It is situated in

Vaassen Vaassen (; Low German: ''Vaossen'') is one of four villages in the Dutch municipality of Epe. Vaassen is situated between Apeldoorn and Zwolle, on the eastern edge of the Veluwe in the province of Gelderland. Vaassen was an independent municipa ...

, a town 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 ...

History

The Guelderian field marshal

Maarten van Rossum Maarten van Rossum (c. 1478 – June 7, 1555) was a military tactician of the duchy of Guelders who became field marshal in the service of Charles, Duke of Guelders. He was greatly feared outside his home country for the ruthless manner in ...

built the watercastle in 1543 on the ruins of an old castle. After his death it was inherited by his nephew Hendrik van Isendoorn, who also supervised the final completion. The castle remained for over 300 years in the family D'Isendoorn à Blois. After the last van Isendoorn widow had died childless in 1881 the threat of the closure of the castle was a probability. In 1882 however it was bought by Eduard Baron van Lynden. 1905 it came into the possession of Mrs. Frida Cleve-Mollard from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

whose husband Richard Cleve was the last private inhabitant of the castle. After the

Second World War 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 ...

the castle was confiscated by the Dutch government and in 1951 transferred to the "Foundation of Friends of Guelderian Castles" (''Stichting Vrienden der Geldersche Kasteelen'') for the symbolic price of one

Dutch guilder The guilder ( nl, gulden, ) or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from the 15th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. The Dutch name ''gulden'' was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning "golden", and reflects the fact that, wh ...

. Between 1975 and 1981 a restoration of the castle took place, the antique furniture has been completed and it has since reopened to visitors.

The castle

The castle was built in the 16th century. Its shape has been preserved until today mainly unchanged. The building complex which contains many elements of the

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

is completely surrounded by water. The floor plan is rectangular. There are almost square and covered towers at all four corners. The northeasterly one is equipped with an

onion dome An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point. It is a ty ...

. On the front side facing south, another higher onion dome was built. This one significantly protrudes from the facade was. Directly above the entrance the coat of arms of Hendrik van Isendoorn and his wife Sophia Stommel are embedded in a sandstone sculpture. Above another sandstone sculpture shows Maarten van Rossum. The entrance used to be reached via a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

over the

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

. This was replaced by a permanent stone

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

. Behind the entrance on the ground floor is an elongated narrow terrace followed by a large hall. Several representative rooms can be reached from there: a hunting room (due to the bright color of the walls also called "the white chamber") and a salon on the righthand side as well as a bedroom and a dining room on the left side. The dining room is connected via a steep

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

to the underlying kitchen. Some rooms are equipped with

fireplace A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design. ...

s which have framings of

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

s. A

Boudoir A boudoir (; ) is a woman's private sitting room or salon in a furnished residence, usually between the dining room and the bedroom, but can also refer to a woman's private bedroom. The term derives from the French verb ''bouder'' (to sulk ...

is located in the north-eastern tower. A stone spiral staircase leads to the first floor. The large hall there is equipped with oil paintings of important families from Gelderland. On the eastern side wall a

family tree A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms. Representations of ...

with ancestors from Elbert van Isendoorn à Blois and his first wife Maria Hadewig van Essen is attached. The ceiling is covered with wooden paneling and wooden planks. Another room which is connected to the hall is furnished as a library or study room, which is called the ''Rode Kamer'' (Red Room) because of its red wallpaper. On the first floor there is also a small

Chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

. Interieur, salon - Vaassen - 20424437 - RCE.jpg, Salon, ground floor Interieur, boudoir - Vaassen - 20424416 - RCE.jpg, Boudoir Interieur, bovenzaal - Vaassen - 20424415 - RCE.jpg, Hall on the first floor Interieur, overzicht van de rode kamer - Vaassen - 20424434 - RCE.jpg, "Red room"

Supplementary buildings

On the west side in front of the castle there is a long building, which was temporarily used as a residence for employees and their families. Meanwhile, it has been changed into a cultural center about the history of the Cannenburgh and the Gelderland province. The former coach house on the opposite east side operates now as a restaurant under its original name '' 't Koetshuis''. A

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

, originating from the 15th century is located northeast of the castle. Meanwhile, it runs with a

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...

. The mill is not open to visitors. Vaassen Cannenburg Bouwhuis west cor 2 520125.jpg, Cultural center Koetshuis vaassen.jpg, ’t Koetshuis Vaassen Cannenburgermolen 8610.JPG, Mill

Park

The total area of the castle including the supplementary buildings and the associated parkland is 24

Hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

. The park, consisting of forests, meadows, flower gardens, ponds,

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

s, cascades and avenues has been rearranged over the centuries several times. The owners were at times also active with the timber industry and fish farming. On certain areas fruit and vegetable gardens were set up for self-supply. Many trees in the park are several hundred years old and the whole area is now used as a place of relaxation for inhabitants and visitors.

Sources

References

J. C. Bierens de Haan, J. R. Jas: ''Cannenburch, kasteel en park''. Geldersche Landschap en Geldersche Kasteelen, 2007,

External links

cannenburch.glk.nl
- visitor webpage for Cannenburg on the site of 'Gelders Landchap en Kastelen' (scenery and castles of Gelderland)
koetshuis
– ’t Koetshuis: restaurant near Cannenburgh {{coord, 52, 17, 30, N, 5, 58, 00, E, region:NL_type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Water castles Buildings and structures completed in the 16th century Castles in Gelderland Rijksmonuments in Gelderland Epe