Hoensbroek Castle (Holland)

Hoensbroek Castle or Gebrookhoes (Gebrook Castle) is one of the largest castles in the Netherlands. The oldest part of the castle, especially the tall round tower, dates back to around 1360, when Herman Hoen renovated it. In 1225 there was already a precursor in this (or shattered) swamp, a so-called castle of the motte. In 1250 a fortified house was built on the site of the present castle. Due to its very strategic position for Limburg on the important trade routes to Maastricht, Aachen and Cologne, the castle was expanded in successive stages into the largest castle between the Meuse and the Rhine. It contains 67 corridors, rooms and spaces.

Together with the Thermenmuseum and the Rijckheyt regional archives, the castle is part of the Historisch GOUD, the heritage society of the municipality of Heerlen.

The first lord of Hoensbroek was the knight Herman Hoen, namesake of the castle (Herhoensbroeck), of the Hoen van den / tzo Broeck family, later Hoen van Hoensbroeck and Van Hoensbroeck, and finally also of the subsequent city of Hoensbroek. Herman was rewarded for his help in the fight against Gulik and Gelre in 1388 by the Duchess Joan of Brabant with the manor of Gebrook, Gebroek, Ingenbrouck (Broek, 'swamp'), which was separated from the territory of Heerlen.

For nearly six centuries the castle was the ancestral residence of the knights Hoen van den Broeck, the royal baron and of the royal counts and marquesses Van en tot Hoensbroeck. The Van Hoensbroeck family left the castle in the late 18th century, causing the castle to fall into disrepair. Count Frans Lothar sold it in 1927 to the current owner, the "Ave Rex Christe" foundation. Between 1930 and 1940 it was completely restored under the architect Nic. Ramakers. From 1951 to 1973, the writer-poet Bertus Aafjes lived in a part of the castle building. In the period from 1986 to 1989 a further restoration took place. The castle is now rented by the municipality and used as a museum.

Over the centuries, the castle has been significantly renovated and expanded three times. The different architectural styles of the various centuries (XIV, XVII and XVIII) are clearly distinguished. The complex has a moat and has four wings around a rectangular courtyard. The main building is accessible via a bridge. It has two equal, rather squat, square towers with onion-shaped spiers on either side of the entrance, and two taller and heavier, semi-independent corner towers of unequal shape at the rear, with a tall, rounded right and a lower one, square on the left, both with large and slender spiers. It is above all that imposing rear facade, located on three sides in a wide water, that gives the castle all its charm. Hoensbroek Castle has an area of ​​approximately 50 meters by 60, which means 3000 m².

The external balconies (piazzale and nederhof) are both U-shaped and enclose two large courtyards. The current cachet of Hoensbroek Castle was created by the square-shaped buildings around the third smaller courtyard. It dates mainly from 1640 to around 1660 and is executed in the Mosan Renaissance style, based on a project by Matthieu Dousin of Visé. This reconstruction and new construction were commissioned by the Baron of Adria Hoen van Hoensbroek, heirloom marshal of the Duchy of Gelre and habitually resident at Schloss Haag near Geldern. The 17th century castle building occupies three quarters of the entire complex. The dining room and some other rooms contain fireplaces from around 1650. In this wing there is also the secret room, behind a bookcase.

From 1720 to 1722, Frans Arnold Reichsgraaf van Hoensbroek had another major renovation carried out, thanks to which the renewed north-western wing was born. The furnishings, including the knights' hall and two-room fireplaces and beautiful 18th-century illusionistic ceiling paintings, bear witness to French influence. His son Lotharius Frans was the last lord of Hoensbroek (1759-1794) to actually inhabit the castle, until 1787, shortly before the French Revolution.

[Source: Wikipedia]