Ampsen () is an

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

, and

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 municipality of

Lochem Lochem () is a city and municipality in the province of Gelderland in the Eastern Netherlands. In 2005, it merged with the municipality of Gorssel, retaining the name of Lochem. As of 2019, it had a population of 33,590. Population centres Th ...

in the province of

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

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 ...

. Administratively, it is part of the village of

Exel Exel was a supply chain and logistics company operating in North America and Europe, which became a subsidiary of the German firm Deutsche Post in 2005. It reported annual revenues of about $4.2 billion in February 2012. History The company ...

History

In the year 1105, an 'Ulricus de Amsene' is mentioned as a witness in a spurious charter. From this mention one deduces that an Ampsen estate must have already existed at that time. There were two estates called Ampsen: ('Old Ampsen') and ('New Ampsen'). Ouden-Ampsen was a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

of the

dukes of Guelders Guelders is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Counts House of Wassenberg * before 1096–about 1129: Gerard I * about 1129–about 1131: Gerard II, son of Gerard I * about 1131–11 ...

and has been mentioned as such in the fief registers of the

Zutphen Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river IJssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in the 11th centur ...

quarter since 1379. It was already a fortified house around that time because in 1389 its owner promised not to harm the Duke of Gelre and his subordinates from this house. Nieuwen-Ampsen was located next to Ouden-Ampsen and was an

allod Allod, deriving from Frankish language, Frankish ''alōd'' meaning "full ownership" (from ''al'' "full, whole" and ''ōd'' "property, possession"; Medieval Latin ''allod'' or ''allodium''), also known as allodial land or proprietary property, was ...

ial estate until it was also made a Guelders fief in 1650. Both Ampsen houses were destroyed during the Spanish period by the Spaniards in 1605. Gerrit Jan van Nagell had the current house built around 1650. However, it is not known whether he chose a completely new place for this, or whether he used the location of the old house. Shortly after 1754, the house was expanded by Johan Herman Sigismund van Nagell: a new wing was added to the right of the L-shaped building, creating a U-shape. The castle

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

around the house was filled in. Today there is a farm with that name and a partly moated castle island near the spot where Oud-Ampsen once stood, but between this farm and the current castle, there is another Nieuwen-Ampsen farm. The castle and estate are still privately owned today.

Gallery

Ampsen-achter.jpg, Castle from the middle of the estate Ampsen bouwhuis nw.jpg, Northwestern part of the castle Ampsen bouwhuiz zo.jpg, Southeastern part of the castle Overzicht Groene Kamer van Huis Ampsen - Lochem - 20409570 - RCE.jpg, 'Green Room', interior

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Authority control Populated places in Gelderland Lochem Castles in Gelderland