Hofwijck Kitchen Hearth
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Hofwijck (; or Vitaulium in Latin) is a mansion built for 17th-century politician
Constantijn Huygens Sir Constantijn Huygens, Lord of Zuilichem ( , , ; 4 September 159628 March 1687), was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was also secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist C ...
. It is located in
Voorburg Voorburg () is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with the town Leidschendam and the village Stompwijk, it merged into the municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg in 2002. Sit ...
on the Vliet canal from
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
to
Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
. The formal address of the cultural heritage is 2 Westeinde, Voorburg, the Netherlands, but its location today is better known as the
Voorburg railway station Voorburg is a railway station located in Voorburg, Netherlands on the Gouda–Den Haag railway. The station was opened on 1 May 1870 and The train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen. The station is also frequented by several local a ...
.


Construction

After he became a widower, Huygens bought land on the Vliet in Voorburg with plans to build a summer home. At the time it was quite fashionable to have a summer home on a river or canal, and old maps of Voorburg show Hofwijck as one of many. The building itself and the gardens (originally on both sides of the Vliet) were designed by Huygens himself in cooperation with the architect
Jacob van Campen Jacob van Campen (2 February 1596 — 13 September 1657) was a Dutch artist and architect of the Golden Age. Life He was born into a wealthy family at Haarlem and spent his youth in his hometown. Being of noble birth and with time on his han ...
. The estate was to be "a harmonious piece of paradise on earth, with a garden in God’s image and likeness." Huygens was very much inspired by the works of classical Roman architect
Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...
.
Pieter Post Pieter Post in 1651. Portrait by Pieter Nolpe, detail of a larger work Pieter Jansz Post (1 May 1608 – buried 8 May 1669) was a Dutch Golden Age architect, painter and printmaker. Biography Post was baptised in Haarlem, the son of a s ...
was in charge of the actual building activities. The building was erected in unplastered brick and is in the Classicist style. It stands in the centre of a square ''swan'' pond. Hofwijck was inaugurated in 1642 in the company of friends and relatives.


Replica in China

A replica of Hofwijck was built in Gaoqiao (Chinese 高桥) a planned city and neighborhood of the large community
Pudong Pudong is a list of administrative divisions of Shanghai, district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu River, Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank (g ...
,
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
,
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
at , next to another replica of the
Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum The Maritime Museum (, ) is a maritime museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The museum had 419,060 visitors in 2012. It ranked as 11th most visited museum in the Netherlands in 2013. The museum had 300,000 visitors in 2015. In 2017 the mus ...
.


Collection

In the collection on display are various items from the Dutch Royal family that have to do with the work of either Constantijn or his son Christiaan. In the display room for Christiaan, various types of clockworks are shown, as well as some original clocks. Family paintings and furniture are on display throughout the building, and the library of Huygens (now a small office) contains many of his books, and offers the same strategic view out of the window at any boat that may appear (today one only sees highway traffic at eye level, and barge traffic at water level). File:Hofwijck from east side.JPG, Hofwijck from the station. File:Hofwijck display of pendulum and clocks.JPG, Christiaan Huygens room, with pendulum from the church in
Scheveningen Scheveningen () is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict () of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular ...
. File:Hofwijck kitchen hearth.jpg, Hofwijck kitchen hearth. File:Hofwijck swan pie.JPG, Swan pie - Huygens kept swans by Royal permission. File:Hofwijck poem by Huygens on display at Hofwijck.JPG, Poem about Hofwijck on display. File:Christiaan-huygens4.jpg, Pastel portrait of Christiaan in 1686 by Bernard Vaillant, which hangs above a pendant portrait of his sister Susanna. File:Frederik Hendrik (1584-1647), prins van Oranje (Atelier of Gerard van Honthorst, 1650).jpg,
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange Frederick Henry (; 29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647) was the sovereign prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from his older half-brother's death on 23 April 1625 until his ...
, by
Gerard van Honthorst Gerard van Honthorst (Dutch: ''Gerrit van Honthorst''; 4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch Golden Age painting, Dutch Golden Age painter who became known for his depiction of artificially lit scenes, eventually receiving the nickn ...
, 1650. File:Amalia van Solms (Gerard van Honthorst, 1650).jpg, Pendant portrait Amalia van Solms-Braunfels


After Constantijn's death

When Constantijn died, his son, the scientist
Christiaan Huygens Christiaan Huygens, Halen, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , ; ; also spelled Huyghens; ; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who is regarded as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution ...
, came to live there. In 1750 the last Huygens to live there sold it. Grossly neglected in later years, it was auctioned for demolition in 1849, which was avoided when it was acquired by politician
Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer (21 August 1801, Voorburg – 19 May 1876), was a Dutch politician and historian. Overview Groen's father, Petrus Jacobus Groen van Prinsterer, was a physician, and at adult age operated in aristocratic circles. ...
. The "Hofwijck Association" acquired it circa 1913, when demolition loomed again. It is now a museum, which opened its door for the first time on June 12, 1928. It closed its doors in 1995 for restoration of the gardens and building and reopened since May 31, 2005 in presence of
Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born ...
. On November 4, 2002, Hofwijck became a registered Monument as number 508184.Monument number: 508184 Hofwijck Westeinde 2 2275 AD te Voorburg
Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, 22 Dezember 2017


Trivia

*Huygens had Hofwijck built so he would have a place to escape the tensions that life as a politician brought with it, and its name reflects this: "hof" means "(royal) court" and "wijck" means "escape". However, it has more than one meaning, because "hof" can also mean "garden" and "wijck" can also mean "place". The Latin name has a double meaning too: Vitaulium means "garden of life" as well as "garden of Vitruvius". *From 1950 to 1970 this house was on the Dutch 25 guilder note. *Until 2006, the Dutch ''intercity'' trains stopped in Voorburg. This was the condition requested of the Dutch railway board by the city of Voorburg, when they gave a large piece of the garden to the building of the rails in the 19th century. Overzicht met vijver - Voorburg - 20245403 - RCE.jpg, Hofwijck in 1914, temporary extended Kasteel Hofwijck.jpg, Most Visitors came by
Trekschuit Trekschuit (; , 'tugged boat') is an old style of sail- and horse-drawn boat specific to the Netherlands, where it was used for centuries as a means of passenger traffic between cities along ''trekvaarten'', or tow-canals. History The first ...
s. The suppliers door is under the bridge. Hofwijck-Voorburg.png, Most visitors originally arrived by
trekschuit Trekschuit (; , 'tugged boat') is an old style of sail- and horse-drawn boat specific to the Netherlands, where it was used for centuries as a means of passenger traffic between cities along ''trekvaarten'', or tow-canals. History The first ...
, so this is the ''rear view of the house'', and the door for deliveries was under the little bridge. Voorbuerg Station - perrons.jpg, Voorburg railway station. On the right is the Hofwijck gatehouse. Voorburg station.jpg, Voorburg station from the ground, the pond is part of the original garden.


Poem about Hofwijck

De groote webb is af; en ’t Hof genoegh beschreven: Eens moet het Hofwijck zijn. wie kent den draed van ’t leven, Hoe kort hij is, hoe taeij? de snaer die heldste luijdt Scheidt d’eerste menighmael van leven en van Luijt, Verkracht en over-reckt, of met der tijd versleten. .. 'k Wil Hofwijck, als het is, 'k wil Hofwijck, als 't zal wezen, de vreemdeling doen zien, de Hollander doen lezen.


See also

*
Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the '' Rampjaar'' occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific development ...


References


External links


Official site of museum
(archive.org from Leiden University) (See Talk:Hofwijck/Sources in case of unclarity.) {{Authority control Architecture in the Netherlands Monuments and memorials in the Netherlands Buildings of the Dutch Golden Age Museums in South Holland Historic house museums in the Netherlands Biographical museums in the Netherlands Leidschendam-Voorburg Baroque architecture in the Netherlands