Isabella Mueller Baroness of Stainton le Vale
Doorwerth Castle, located in the Rhine floodplains of the Dutch province of Gelderland, is a wildly romantic castle and one of the oldest in the Netherlands. The inner courtyard of the moated castle is also home to the oldest tree in the Netherlands, a black locust tree with a circumference of 7 meters, which was planted in 1579 and immediately reminded me of the dead tree from Tim Burton’s film “Sleepy Hollow.” The only thing missing was the headless horseman disappearing into this mighty tree. Funnily enough, the English ghost hunters who investigated the castle detected paranormal phenomena. These were first presented in their series “Most Haunted” on September 28, 2004. Not only is a lady in a carriage with headless horses said to haunt Doorwerth Castle, but also the ghost of a thieving servant and a murderous castellan. The first mention of the castle was in 1260, when a residential tower with a moat belonging to the lords of Dorenweerd was reported. It was besieged and set on fire by the lord of Vianen. The van Dorenweerds then rebuilt their castle by 1280. In 1402, the knight Robert van Dorenweerd became a vassal of the Duke of Geldern, so that Doorwerth became his property. In 1435, the knight Reinald van Homoet owned Doorwerth and expanded it with additional buildings. This resulted in a four-wing complex with an inner courtyard. The castle acquired its present appearance around 1640. In 1643, the lord of the castle, Johann Albrecht, had a large dam built around the castle to protect it from flooding by the Rhine. Due to financial difficulties, Doorwerth was sold to Count Anton I of Aldenburg in 1667. His descendants sold Doorwerth in 1837 to Jacob Adriaan Prosper van Brakell, who used Doorwerth as his residence and restored it at great expense. After the death of his widow, Doorwerth fell into disrepair until the association “De Doorwerth,” founded in 1909, bought and restored the castle in 1910. In 1913, the first museum castle in the Netherlands opened there. During the Second World War, 75 percent of the castle was destroyed. Its reconstruction lasted until 1986. Today, the castle, which has belonged to the “Friends of the Castles of Gelderland” foundation since 1969, houses the Artillery Museum, a museum for nature and wildlife management, and the Veluwezoom Museum. Doorwerth Castle, where you can experience the castle’s seven centuries of history up close in its magnificent rooms, is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thanks to a restaurant, your physical well-being is also taken care of, and you can shop for all kinds of souvenirs in the castle shop. My visit to the picturesque Doorwerth Castle will remain in my memory for a long time because of the extremely stormy weather.
