Pictures of the Netherlands

[The Lawspeaker]

First of all: the Province of Utrecht is very varied in landscape and architecture.. mirroring a very rich heritage and history. I can only grasp to sample just a little bit of it all and put it here on the forum eventhough I live here myself. I am sure that GroeneWolf can expand on the collection that I am about to post.


I think that people that would start posting about the Province would take the very highlight of it all (the Dom Cathedral and the Tower) but I have decided not to do it. No.. I am first going to take you to the countryside. Utrecht as a province is rich in buitenplaatsen. So rich even that one of the nicknames of a part of the province is Stichtse Lustwarande. (Palace row of Het Sticht.. Het Sticht being another mediaeval name for what is now the Province).

We will be starting off at Zeist.. which is a town of around 50.000 people just north-west of Utrecht at the very heart of the Lustwarande.

This is the central square and townhall of the town. The highlight of it can not be seen in this picture. Slot Zeist.. Zeist Castle. A 17th century castle.

Every castle or buitenplaats used to have it's socalled tea house (theehuis in Dutch) where the lord of the manor used to have tea with his family and visitors during the 17th and 18th century.



This is the one at Slot Zeist during autumn.




Slot Zeist.

Zeist as a town is surrounded and penetrated by the forests of the Utrecht Hill Ridge or Utrechtse Heuvelrug. The same goes for most of the northeastern part of the province.




Wulpenhorst is just one of the countless mansions. Most of which are now in use as offices as no one could possibly afford to live there.



Another one would be Ma Retraite. Most gardens on the former buitenplaatsen have been carefully or restored in the English style.


At Austerlitz (or actually between Austerlitz and Wouderberg), only a couple of miles from Zeist one can find the rather famous pyramid that was constructed by order of Napoleon to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz in what is now the Czech Republic.

Austerlitz and the pyramid were a result of the fact that Napoleon's troops had been based there. It was build in 1804.



Christmas night at the old church square in the village of Driebergen-Rijsenburg. The Church square itself is in Rijsenburg but the two villages had been twinned a long time ago. Now they form a part of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug-municipality.

In the back the St. Petrus- church can be seen.
For the Afrikaners amongst us.. Driebergen is the native birthplace of the well-known sculptor Anton van Wouw.

[The Lawspeaker]

Sparrendaal House is the former seat of the municipality Driebergen-Rijsenburg until it was, together with other communities absorbed into the wider municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug.


His Imperial and Royal Majesty Emperor William II of Germany lived in Huis Doorn (Doorn Manor) after the German monarchy was abolished (after WW.1). He died in 1941 and was buried by the Germans with full military honours. He first lived in Huis Amerongen but the government questioned his security and thus was moved to the safer location at Huis Doorn. Huis Doorn was seized by the Dutch government after 1945 and now it's a national museum.


Around the nearby village of Maarn.

[The Lawspeaker]

More German-Dutch history here along the Grebbe. On the 10th of May 1940 the Dutch woke up to the sound of roaring aircraft engines as over a quarter of a million Germans invaded the Netherlands. Our army was outnumbered and poorly trained, provisions lacking weapons lacking or antiquated but nonetheless the Dutch put up one hell of a fight. At the Grebbe the Waffen SS was beaten back several times by Dutch forces earlier described by the French as "third rate" or as a "club of boyscouts." The town of Rhenen was reduced to ashes after German bombardments but the Dutch rebuild it after the war. The entire town is gone now though and the houses were rebuild in the traditionalism of the Delftse School.

The town of Rhenen. Now a peaceful setting.

It is perhaps all the more astounding that the Germans were beaten back several times over as they knew all the positions of the Dutch. So how did they know ? In a cruel twist of fate the Dutch had never closed down the watchtower that was at Rhenen Ouwehands Zoo during the months of the General Mobilisation of 1939 because it would have been "bad for business". This much to the outrage of the Army as German "tourists" suddenly found the region "to be appealing for a daytime visit". The result of the battle was still a costly German victory.








The Militair Ereveld Grebbeberg (National Military Cemetery of Grebbeberg) now hosts the remains of 799 Dutch soldiers. Most of of which perished during the Meidagen van 1940. It started off as a joint cemetery for Dutch and German perished in 1940 but after 1945 the Germans were reburied on the other side of the country at IJsselstein, Limburg.



The Grebbeberg where some of the worst fighting took place.



Leaving the place behind we can still have a look at Prattenburg Castle.



Not too far away is the little village of Elst.



The landscape around Achterberg.

Another location for history would be Amerongen. Not just for the lost Battle of Amerongen against vastly superior Spanish troops in 1585 after treason by the sons of the Count of Bergen but also because of Amerongen Castle.. which was the first refuge of the German Emperor William II before he got moved to Huis Doorn:


Amerongen Castle.


In Amerongen itself.

[The Lawspeaker]

Huis Vollenhoven, De Bilt.



Renswoude Castle




Casemates of Fort Lunet III. The fort was once part of the Second Water Line (Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie)


In Loenen aan de Vecht.


Along the banks of the Kromme Rijn - close to Bunnik.


Now we are going back to the Heuvelrug: the Egelmeer (a small lake in the Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park).



You wouldn't see it but you're standing right on top of the A28 motorway linking Utrecht to Amersfoort and the North. The Ecoduct or wildlife bridge guarantees a safe passage for wildlife from one side of the national park to the other.


The sheer emptiness of the Leersumse Veld.


A medieval street ("Muurhuizen" - literary "Wall Houses") in the very heart of Amersfoort.
The strange name can be explained by the fact that back in the Middle Ages the city already expanded beyond it's original fortifications and the old wall was simply either town down or used as a wall to support "new" construction. In this particular house the tower was included in the building. The moat behind it was left intact and became a canal. One of the old gates/ city prison still survives to this very day.

[Crossbow]

Pictures of Zeeuws Vlaanderen:

Countrylane with poplars



Old boundary post (Dutch-Belgian border)



Landscape in the eastern part



The estuary of the Schelde river near the North sea coast, with Vlissingen(Flushing) on the other side



The old town of Hulst, mentioned in the fables of the Reynard cycle





One of the locks at Terneuzen, giving access to the channel from Terneuzen (situated on the Schelde river), to Gent in Belgium (also for seaworthy ships)


Gent (Belgium)

[The Lawspeaker]

What's Belgium ? Do you mean Belgica Foederata ? The United Netherlands ?
Or it is reb land you're talking about ?

[Crossbow]

What's Belgium ? Do you mean Belgica Foederata ? The United Netherlands ?
Or it is reb land you're talking about ?

Allright I apologize, Flanders, as a part of the United Netherlands.

[The Lawspeaker]

Allright I apologize, Flanders, as a part of the United Netherlands.

So is and ought to be Wallonia.

[CelticTemplar]

Beautiful country, I have always wanted to visit.

[The Lawspeaker]

Beautiful country, I have always wanted to visit.

Go ahead. It's expensive now for you though because of the diminished value of the U.S dollar.

Do yourself a favour: don't go to Amsterdam. It's a theme park, not the real Netherlands.