Not far from the Evenburg Castle in Leer-Loga you can find the Philippsburg Castle, the last grander building from before 1744, the year that East Frisia lost its independency. The castle was built in 1730 in Dutch style as residence of Freiherr Philipp von Wedel, wo named the building after himself. He also had a, […]
In an earlier post I mentioned that there are no less than four castles in the small town of Leer, East Frisia, Germany. In December I traced the Haneburg already. On Friday I did find the other three. Unfortunately the Harderwykenburg, situated near the centre, is hidden behind trees and fences. And I decided to […]
Huis Bergh in ‘s-Heerenberg, the Netherlands, is the ancestral castle of the Counts van den Bergh. It is one of the largest Dutch castles. I visited the castle with friends a few weeks ago. The medieval castle is surrounded by a moat and partly by an embankment. There isn’t that much known about the building […]
Early May I spent some days in London, Great Britain. I met with one of my royalty friends on one of these days for a visit to Hever Castle and Penshurst Place. Unfortunately we had really British weather. In between the rain showers however we even managed to see the gardens. Hever Castle in Hever, […]
In Germany, just about three kilometres across the Dutch border the Fürsten zu Salm-Salm have their main residence: Wasserburg Anholt (moated castle). For years this castle has been on my list of castles I once wanted to visit. Some weeks ago I had another look how to get there. Well, you either go by train […]
Schloss Marienburg © Stefan Knaak
Already from quite a distance Marienburg Castle is clearly visible on the Marienberg Hill, about 20 kilometers south of Hannover. It is probably one of the most impressive buildings in Germany. It looks like an old medieval castle, but surprisingly it isn’t. The story behind it is romantic, but at the same time quite a […]
Warmelo
Tomorrow, Monday 5 June 2017, it is the “Dag van het Kasteel” (Day of the Castle) in the Netherlands. 120 Castles all over the country are participating, organize extra events or exceptionally open their doors. Unfortunately in the Province of Groningen only six castles are open. Nice extra events are being held, but they’re open […]
Once there were about 200 stone houses and borgs (a borg is the Groninger word for castle) the Dutch Province of Groningen. Many of the borgs were started as a stone house in the 13th and 14th century. As stone was expensive only the rich people could afford it. The stone house most of the […]
Buckingham Palace
Remember my visit in May 2016 to Legoland in Billund, Denmark? This year me and the same two friends visited Legoland in Windsor, Great Britain (see also Royal Lego in Windsor and London). It was very nice, but somewhat of a disappointment after Billund, which is bigger and has more royal buildings. We especially missed […]
My first foreign castle visit took place in July 1984. During our vacation on a camping in Hardenberg, The Netherlands, we for the first time really crossed the border. A very special event for us. In April we had been in Weerselo for a few days celebrating my parents 12 1/2 wedding anniversary and couldn’t […]
