Graaf Adolf is gebleven (Count Adolf stayed behind) in Friesland in de slag, (in battle in Frisia) zijn ziel in ‘t eeuwig leven (His soul in the eternal life) verwacht de jongste dag. (awaits the final judgement) These are the last lines of the fourth verse of the Dutch national anthem (there are fifteen verses, just for your information). Who is this Count Adolf? He was born in Dillenburg on […]
Emperor Wilhelm II at Het Loo
An exhibition about Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany in the Netherlands? Who on earth wants to see that, my German colleague wondered. It surely won’t be visited as much as previous exhibitions, but the exhibition “Der Kaiser! Glory & decline of Emperor Wilhelm II” at Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn is still pretty nice and […]
Het Loo: The Wedding of Princess Margriet 1967
On 10 January 1967, on a cold winter’s day, the third daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard, married at the City Hall and later that day in the Great or Saint Jacob’s Church in The Hague. Princess Margriet, born 1943, had chosen to marry a Dutch commoner, Pieter van Vollenhoven. The […]
Winterpalace Het Loo
I admit I am to blame myself! I missed part of the Christmas exhibition at Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, on Saturday. A tiny part, but anyway … It had been a very busy week, so I did receive the press announcement about it and had just a very quick look at it, […]
Royal Exhibitions at The Hague: Willem I and Máxima
No time during the Royal Gathering conference weekend, so I took an early train to The Hague on Friday to spend the afternoon there shopping and especially visiting exhibitions. At the moment the National Archive (next to the central railway station) shows the exhibition “24 uur met Willem. Koning van Nederland en België” (24 hours […]
The Golden Carriage at Het Loo
I was going to post this earlier, but somehow waited until today. If you want to see the Golden Carriage yourself at Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands, you’ve got only one day left, 6 September 2015. Before heading to a birthday on 29 August 2015 I spent a few wonderful hours at […]
Apeldoorn – Sisi and Het Oude Loo
Don’t be surprised if one of the first things you see when entering the grounds of Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn is a peacock. They walk around in the stables area, and if you’re lucky they show you their lovely colours. I visited the palace a week ago to see the exhibition “Sisi, sprookje & […]
Leeuwarden – Once a Royal Residence
Once Leeuwarden was a real royal residence, small and unknown, from the late 16th century to 1765, when Princess-Regent Maria Louise died in the city. Just visit the Tourist Information near the railway station and get yourself the Orange-Nassau Walk through the historical city of Leeuwarden to find the traces that are still there. There […]
The Glass Coach on display
I almost didn’t make it to the second exhibition I wanted to visit after the Hermitage in Amsterdam. On my way to the railway station I was diverted by “Open Tower Day”, and several great towers on my way to the train were open. I did climb the tiny tower of the “Waag”, and made […]
Alexander, Napoléon and Joséphine in the Hermitage
Yesterday I toured half of the Netherlands to see two royalty related exhibitions. The first was in the Hermitage in Amsterdam. On Friday 27 March 2015 Prince Nicolas Romanoff and Count Alexandre Colonna-Walewski opened the exhibition “Alexander, Napoleon & Josephine. A Story of Friendship, War & Art from the Hermitage”. Another highly interesting royalty related […]