Soestdijk Palace ( nl, Paleis Soestdijk ) is a

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

formerly belonging to the

Dutch Royal Family The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...

. It consists of a central block and two wings. Although named after the village of

Soestdijk Soestdijk () is a neighbourhood of Soest and a hamlet in the municipality of Baarn. Both are part of the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. The village gives its name to Paleis Soestdijk, which from 1937 to 2004 was the residence of Princess and ...

, which is largely in the municipality of Soest, the Soestdijk Palace is just north of the border in the municipality of

Baarn Baarn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, near Hilversum in the province of Utrecht. The municipality of Baarn The municipality of Baarn consists of the following towns: Baarn, Eembrugge, Lage Vuursche. The town of Baarn Ba ...

in the province of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

. It was the home for over six decades of

Queen Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. S ...

and her husband,

Prince Bernhard , house = Lippe , father = Prince Bernhard of Lippe , mother = Armgard von Cramm , birth_date = , birth_name = Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld , birth_place = Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany , death_date = ...

until their deaths in 2004.

History

De Graeff

In the middle of the seventeenth century the Country house on the ''Zoestdijk'' was built for

Cornelis de Graeff Cornelis de Graeff, also Cornelis de Graeff van (Zuid-)Polsbroek (15 October 1599 – 4 May 1664) was the most illustrious member of the De Graeff family. He was a mayor of Amsterdam from the Dutch Golden Age and a powerful Amsterdam regent after ...

. In the years 1655-1660 De Graeff was involved in the education of

Willem III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from ...

, as can be seen from his letters in Soestdijk to the States-General and his nephew

Johan de Witt Johan de Witt (; 24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672), ''lord of Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp en IJsselvere'', was a Dutch statesman and a major political figure in the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century, the Fi ...

. During the summers the family spent a lot of their time at the Palace Soestdijk, and De Graeff's sons

Pieter Pieter is a male given name, the Dutch form of Peter. The name has been one of the most common names in the Netherlands for centuries, but since the mid-twentieth century its popularity has dropped steadily, from almost 3000 per year in 1947 to ...

and

Jacob de Graeff Jacob de Graeff (28 June 1642 in Amsterdam – 21 April 1690) was a member of the De Graeff-family from the Dutch Golden Age. He was an Amsterdam Regent and held the titles as 20.th Lord of the Free and high Fief Ilpendam and Purmerland. Jacob ...

played with the young Willem. In 1674, after the

rampjaar In Dutch history, the year 1672 is referred to as the nl, Rampjaar, label=none (Disaster Year). In May 1672, following the outbreak of the Franco-Dutch War and its peripheral conflict the Third Anglo-Dutch War, France, supported by Münster an ...

, Jacob de Graeff sold it for the low price of 18,755

Guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...

to Stadhouder William III.

Orange-Nassau

Then the palace originally started as a hunting lodge that was built between 1674 and 1678 by

Maurits Post Maurits Post (ca. 10 December 1645 – 6 June 1677) was a Dutch Golden Age architect. Biography Post was born in Haarlem, the son of the architect Pieter Post, and was probably his assistant, as he took over his father's projects when he died i ...

, who was also involved in building two other royal palaces,

Huis ten Bosch Palace Huis ten Bosch ( nl, Paleis Huis ten Bosch, ; English: "House in the Woods") is a royal palace in The Hague, Netherlands. It is one of three official residences of the Dutch monarch; the two others being the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague and ...

and

Noordeinde Palace Noordeinde Palace ( nl, Paleis Noordeinde, ) is one of the three official palaces of the Dutch royal family. Located in The Hague in the province of South Holland, it has been used as the official workplace of King Willem-Alexander since 2013. ...

. William left the Netherlands in 1688 to reside in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

as William III of England. During the French invasion in 1795, the palace was seized as a spoil of war and turned into an inn for French troops. When

Louis Bonaparte Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born Luigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland (a French cl ...

became King of

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

, he took possession of it and had it extended and refurnished. It was presented to

William II of the Netherlands William II ( nl, Willem Frederik George Lodewijk, anglicized as William Frederick George Louis; 6 December 1792 – 17 March 1849) was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg. William II was the son of William ...

in 1815 in recognition of his services at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

. From 1816 to 1821, the palace was significantly expanded by adding two wings, the northern or Baarn wing, and the southern or Soest wing. In 1842 its contents were enriched by the addition of the neoclassical furnishings of his former palace in Brussels, today the

Palais des Académies The Academy Palace or Palace of the Academies (french: Palais des Académies, nl, Paleis der Academiën) is a neoclassical palace in Brussels, Belgium. It was originally built between 1823 and 1828 for Prince William II of Orange. Today, it ...

. Soestdijk became the property of the State of 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 ...

in 1971, though it was used by

Princess Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. ...

(Queen of the Netherlands from 1948–1980) and

as their official residence until both of their deaths in 2004. Soestdijk Palace then remained empty and unused for over a year before its opening to the public. From Spring 2006 to 2017, it was possible to visit, pending a decision about its future use.

Investors

In 2017 the palace was sold to Made in Holland who plan on developing a hotel, event centre and 65 houses on the grounds. A forest, the

Baarnse Bos The Baarnse Bos is a park/forest in the southern part of the municipality of Baarn, the province of Utrecht (province), the Netherlands. The area of the forest if approximately and is adjacent to the Soestdijk Palace. The forest is limited by Ams ...

, is adjacent to the palace. It was developed as a

French landscape garden The French landscape garden (french: jardin anglais, jardin à l'anglaise, jardin paysager, jardin pittoresque, jardin anglo-chinois) is a style of garden inspired by idealized romantic landscapes and the paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrai ...

between 1733 and 1758. }), the sitting room of

in 1938. File:Interieur, overzicht van de werkkamer van Zijn Koninklijke Hoogheid, gelegen aan de achterzijde van de Baarnse vleugel - Soestdijk - 20403760 - RCE.jpg, alt=Shiny silver coin with profile of Washington bust, The study of

in 2006. File:Werkkamer van Koningin Juliana met raamconstructie en met zicht op het terras en park, gelegen aan de achterzijde van het corps de logis - Soestdijk - 20403649 - RCE.jpg, The sitting room of

in 2006. File:Interieur, overzicht van de antichambre met kroonluchter, plafondschildering en wandbespanning, gelegen aan de voorzijde van het corps de logis - Soestdijk - 20403419 - RCE.jpg, Anteroom richly decorated. File:Interieur, overzicht van de Stuczaal met gebogen plafond met cassetten, gelegen aan de achterzijde van het corps de logis - Soestdijk - 20403464 - RCE.jpg, Ballroom File:Interieur, overzicht van de Witte eetzaal met kroonluchters, meubilair en albasten vazen, gelegen aan de achterzijde van het middengedeelte, tussen het corps de logis en de Soester vleugel - Soestdijk - 20403189 - RCE.jpg, White Dinner Room File:Interieur, overzicht van de Empire salon met plafondschildering en kroonluchter, gelegen aan de achterzijde van het corps de logis - Soestdijk - 20404612 - RCE.jpg, Empire Room

References

External links

Paleis Soestdijk
(official website) {{Royal Palaces Netherlands Baarn Soestdijk, Palace Houses completed in 1678 Palaces in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Utrecht (province) Royal residences in the Netherlands Tourist attractions in Utrecht (province) 1678 establishments in the Dutch Republic