Eerde is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in the province of

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It is part of the municipality of

Ommen Ommen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city in the eastern Netherlands. It is located in the Vechte, Vecht valley of the Salland region in Overijssel. Historical records first name Ommen in ...

, and lies about northwest of

Almelo Almelo () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie, and Bornerbroek. Almelo has about 72,000 inhabitants in the middle o ...

.''ANWB Topografische Atlas Nederland'', Topografische Dienst and ANWB, 2005. At the heart of the Eerde hamlet lies Eerde castle, a castle in the Dutch-classical style from 1715, surrounded by a estate in the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style managed by the

Natuurmonumenten Vereniging tot Behoud van Natuurmonumenten in Nederland (), also known as Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, is a Dutch nature conservation organization founded in 1905 by Jacobus Pieter Thijsse and Eli Heimans, that buys, protects, and manages nature ...

foundation since 1965.Stichting Natuurmonumenten
Eerde''
. The first castle on this site was built in the 14th century, but was soon destroyed by the forces of the Archbishop of Utrecht in 1380. The Van Twickelo,

Van Renesse The Van Renesse family is an old Dutch nobility, Dutch noble family and cadet branch of the :nl:Heren_van_Voorne, Van Voorne Family (in Dutch) that stems from the town of Renesse in Zeeland. History The eldest documented ancestor of the family ...

, and Van Pallandt families have lived in castles on this site since. In the early 1920s, baron Philip van Pallandt deeded the castle and surrounding land to the

Order of the Star in the East The () was an international organization based at Benares (Varanasi), India from . It was established by the leadership of the Theosophical Society at Adyar, Madras (Chennai) to prepare the world for the arrival of a reputed messianic enti ...

, an organization connected to the famous

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

spiritual teacher This is an index of religious honorifics from various religions. Buddhism Christianity Eastern Orthodox The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Protestantism Catholicism Hinduism Islam Judaism ...

Jiddu Krishnamurti Jiddu Krishnamurti ( ; 11 May 1895 – 17 February 1986) was an Indian Philosophy, philosopher, speaker, writer, and Spirituality, spiritual figure. Adopted by members of the Theosophy, Theosophical tradition as a child, he was raised to fill ...

, of whom the baron was an avid follower. The Order held annual gatherings of its members in the castle grounds until its dissolution in 1929; the deed to the estate was officially transferred back to the van Pallandt family in 1931, however Krishnamurti continued to occasionally use the estate for lectures and meetings until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During the war the estate had been used as a concentration camp ( Camp Erika) by the occupying German forces, and afterwards Krishnamurti felt this precluded its use as a proper meeting space. In 1934, the castle was turned into a school for German Jewish children threatened by the Nazi regime. This school, founded by the

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

, had to be closed under pressure from the German occupiers in 1943. Fourteen students did not escape the invaders and were arrested and murdered. This boarding school was known as ''Quaker School Eerde''.

Hildegard Feidel-Mertz Hildegard Feidel-Mertz (born 19 May 1930 – 23 October 2013) was a German educational researcher. Life Born in Frankfurt, Mertz was born in a working class household. She studied at the Goethe University Frankfurt and was promoted her doctorat ...

: ''Integration and Formation of Identity: Exile Schools in Great Britain'', SHOFAR, Fall 2004, Vol. 23, No. 1, p. 74. There is also an article in the German WIKIPEDIA: . After World War II the school continued in the country house and its outbuildings as a secondary school for Dutch and foreign students. In 1959 the Quaker institution was relocated to Kasteel Beverweerd in the Province of Utrecht. A new, non-denominational boarding school, now known as International School Eerde, occupied the buildings. English is the principal language of instruction. School Eerde''
and it now offers IGCSEs and IB programmes to its students.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Overijssel Ommen