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. 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 ...

in the province of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

. It was the home for over six decades of Queen Juliana 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, 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 F ...

. 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 ...

and Jacob de Graeff played with the young Willem. In 1674, after the rampjaar, 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 E ...

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, 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 t ...

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 List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

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 ...

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 Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

, 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 Wil ...

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 (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 armies of the Sevent ...

. 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. 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. Sh ...

(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, 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 Queen Juliana 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