Kasteel Marquette in Heemskerk is gebouwd op de grondvesten van het oude rondeel Slot te Heemskerck.

Slot Heemskerk

Gravure van het kasteel omstreeks 1630
Het Huis tot Heemskerk stamt uit de periode rond 1250. Het rondeel maakte deel uit van een lange keten van kastelen ter verdediging tijdens de West-Friese Oorlogen. Het werd bewoond door de Heren van Heemskerk, die bestuur en rechtspraak uitoefenden in het ambacht Heemskerk en Castricum.

De Heren van Heemskerk raakten regelmatig in conflict met naburige Heren en met de boerenbevolking. In 1358 werd het Slot Heemskerk belegerd door Dirk van Polanen. Na elf weken moest Wouter van Heemskerk capituleren. In 1380 kreeg de familie het slot terug, maar zonder de heerlijke rechten. In 1426 werd het slot geplunderd door Kennemer boeren onder leiding van Willem Nagel. Later in de 15e eeuw kwam het goed in bezit van de Heren van Assendelft.

Kasteel Marquette

In 1610 verkocht Karel van Arenberg het kasteel aan Daniël de Hertaing, heer van Marquette-en-Ostrevant, die gehuwd was met Eleonora de Hennin, de zuster van wijlen de Graaf van Bossu. Hij kreeg toestemming de naam Marquette aan het bezit te geven.

Van 1717 tot 1909 was het huis in het bezit van de familie Rendorp, waarna het door huwelijk in 1855 overging naar de familie Gevers die het tot 1980 bezat. Zij zouden dit onderkomen alleen als buitenhuis gebruiken. Tussen 1730 en 1760 werd het kasteel volledig verbouwd en kreeg het een 18e-eeuwse uitstraling.

Joachim Rendorp was de eigenaar gedurende de tweede helft van de 18e eeuw.
Daniël Théodore Gevers van Endegeest in de 19e eeuw.
In de loop der tijd onderging het slot door afbreken en aanbouwen door de verschillende eigenaren de nodige gedaanteverwisselingen. In 1742, volgens de datum boven de voordeur, en 1828 werd het kasteel ingrijpend veranderd en kreeg het zijn huidige gedaante.

Een groot deel van het bijzondere interieur van Slot Assumburg is eind 19e eeuw overgebracht naar Marquette. In de Tweede Wereldoorlog werd kasteel Marquette door de Duitse bezetting gebruikt als weerstation. Het kasteel werd een paar keer beschoten door de geallieerden, waarbij het dak van het kasteel flink beschadigd werd. De laatste eigenaar, jhr. Gevers van Marquette, droeg het landgoed in 1980 over aan het Heemskerkse waterbedrijf PWN. Daarna werd het gerestaureerd en geschikt gemaakt als conferentieoord. In deze periode werd op het landgoed ook een hotel gebouwd. Daarna is het kasteel door diverse eigenaren nog ingrijpend gerestaureerd om verder verval van het kasteel en het landgoed tegen te gaan.

Kasteel Marquette

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Slot Assumburg is een kasteel in het oosten van Heemskerk. Het dateert waarschijnlijk oorspronkelijk uit de 13e eeuw, maar werd in 1546 verbouwd, en is genoemd naar de buurtschap Assum tussen Heemskerk en Uitgeest. Er wordt wel aangenomen dat bij de bouw is gebruikgemaakt van sloopmateriaal van kasteel Oud Haerlem, maar dat is niet het geval. De kracht die het kasteel uitstraalt, is ook meer schijn dan werkelijkheid. Het is in feite een imitatie van een middeleeuws kasteel. De dunne muren zouden een beleg niet hebben kunnen doorstaan. Een dergelijk kasteel wordt doorgaans coulissenkasteel genoemd.

Slot Assumburg is gedurende vele eeuwen een adellijk verblijf geweest. Een groot aantal verschillende geslachten hebben er gewoond. Na 1867 bleef het slot onbewoond. De betimmeringen en de gebruiksvoorwerpen werden overgebracht naar kasteel Marquette. Ook de omgeving raakte haar oude glorie kwijt: het park rond het slot verdween. Vanaf 1911 tot 15 januari 2016 was het eigendom van het Rijk. Het slot werd voor één gulden overgedaan aan de staat met de verplichting het slot te restaureren. De restauratie in opdracht van de Rijksgebouwendienst kwam uiteindelijk rond 1980 gereed. De in de nabijheid gelegen oranjerie was al rond 1965 gerestaureerd. In 1933 kreeg de Assumburg haar bestemming als jeugdherberg.

Met uitzondering van een beperkte openstelling tijdens de Open Monumentendagen, is het slot zelf niet openbaar toegankelijk. Naast het slot bevindt zich het natuur- en recreatiepark Assumburg, dat in 2003 is aangelegd. Vanaf 2009 werd de 18e-eeuwse kasteeltuin in originele staat hersteld en in 2011 geopend voor het publiek. De kasteeltuin bevat onder meer een fruitboomgaard, een rosarium, een groente- en kruidentuin en een groot formeel gedeelte met hofvijver.

Dit monument is op 15 januari 2016 overgedragen aan de Nationale Monumentenorganisatie.

Geschiedenis

Familie van Velsen

Het slot stond in de 13e en 14e eeuw bekend als Williaems Woninghe van Velsen en 't werd zoals de naam al aanduidt, bewoond door de familie van Velsen. Jan van Rietwijk, zoon van Willem van Rietwijk van Velsen, werd in 1322 beleend met de helft van de Assumburg. De andere helft behoorde toen al aan Barthout van Assendelft, die dus wel bloedverwant van Jan van Rietwijk zal zijn geweest. Op 17 mei 1328 verkocht Jan zijn helft van de Assumburg aan Barthoud van Assendelft. Daarna droeg Barthoud (I) de gehele Assumburg op aan de heer Jan I van Polanen (eigenaar kasteel Oud Haerlem), die hem ermee beleende op 5 juni 1335. Barthoud was getrouwd met Catharina, dochter van Dirk van den Wale, hofmeester van graaf Willem III. Dirk van den Wale was een bastaard van Polanen! Barthoud stierf waarschijnlijk in 1345. Zijn oudste zoon Dirk (I) verkreeg de Assumburg, maar is vrij kort daarna kinderloos overleden, zodat zijn jongere broer Gerrit (II) zich in 1348 op dit kasteel kon vestigen. Deze Gerrit was in relatie gebleven met de familie van zijn oude leenheren de Van Haerlem's: hij trouwde met Stevina van Haarlem. Sedertdien hebben de Van Assendelft's het wapen van de Van Haerlem's in het hunne opgenomen.

Familie van Assendelft

Hun oudste zoon Barthoud (II) werd door hertog Willem VI verbannen. Dus betrok broer Dirk (II) van Assendelft in 1413 de Assumburg en liet zich daarmee zelfs belenen (20 april 1421). De laatste mannelijke Van Assendelft die de Assumburg heeft bewoond was Gerrit (VIII) (1567-1617) heer van Assendelft (1601), Assumburg, etc. Gerrit (VIII) bleef ongehuwd. Na zijn dood ontving zijn zuster Anna (II) de Assumburg in leen (1618). Ze was getrouwd met Gerrit van Renesse van der Aa. Anna stierf in 1626. Nog enkele tientallen jaren bleven er Renesses op de Assumburg wonen, maar in 1669 kocht koopman Johannes Wuijtiers het kasteel.

Familie Deutz

Toen na diverse eigenaren Jean Deutz in 1694 het kasteel had gekocht, liet deze de Assumburg verfraaien naar de smaak van die tijd: een Franse tuin met waterpartijen en plantsoenen. De laatste Deutz was Jacob Maarten Deutz van Assendelft die op het kasteel woonde en er ook stierf (in 1858). Toen zijn vrouw Josina Johanna Willink in 1867 in Amsterdam stierf, was dat tevens het einde van de Assumburg als aanzienlijk buitenverblijf. Veertien dagen lang vond er een veiling plaats van de inboedel (oktober 1868). Ook het landbezit werd van de hand gedaan. Na een jaar lang verhuurd te zijn geweest aan het Haagse gemeenteraadslid Hugh Hope Loudon (1816-1891), kreeg het gebouw diverse functies: in 1881 als hospitaal tijdens een cholera epidemie en later nog als school. In 1906 liet Hugo Gevers van Marquette de betimmering van de grote zaal naar kasteel Marquette overbrengen. Ook de marmeren schoorstenen en vier deuren met hun omlijsting werden daarheen gebracht.

Restauratie

Het bijna tot ruïne vervallen kasteel werd op 18 september 1911 aan het Rijk verkocht. Besloten werd het gebouw op te knappen. Een bestemming als jeugdherberg waarborgde het sociale nut van het oude slot. Op 15 juli 1933 vonden de eerste jongeren er onderdak, werkloze jeugdherbergvrienden verzetten veel werk in het kader van de restauratie. Tijdens de oorlog van 1940/45 legerden de Duitsers zich in het kasteel. Na de bevrijding diende het enige tijd als huis van bewaring voor een dertigtal politieke gevangenen.

Slot Assumburg

Beeckestijn is a historical buitenplaats dating from the 18th century in a park by the same name in Velsen-Zuid, Netherlands.

History

The Beeckestijn site was a buitenplaats in the 15th and 16th centuries before the current English-style garden was designed in the 18th century. The house and the accompanying gardens are listed for varying reasons in the National register of monuments. The original design of the current garden plan from 1772 was preserved in an engraving by the landscape designer Johann Georg Michael (1738-1800), who also designed the neighboring park Waterland. He was assisted by the painter and designer Johann Heinrich Müntz. They were commissioned by the owner Jacob Boreel who had visited England and wished for a garden in the style of Stowe, Kewe Gardens and Wimpole. The gardens were partially redesigned in 1936 by the landscape designer Leonard Springer (1855-1940). Throughout the park are three bunkers from World War II that were sunk after the war by pumping the sand beneath them away. One of these bunkers is below the shell pond near the rear of the house.

The house had various owners until being bought by the Trip family in the 17th century. Jan Trip the younger expanded the house to its present state in 1716-1721. The main building seen today has a sculpture on the facade and some stuccos within by Ignatius van Logteren (1685-1732). The house was occupied as a residence until 1924 when it fell into disuse. In 1939 it was used by a Dutch regiment who caused a lot of damage, and in 1941 it was occupied by German infantry. In 1942 the three Atlantikwall bunkers were built in the garden. After the war the house was occupied by Canadians before becoming the property of Jonkvrouwe Agnes Cremer-Boreel who sold it to Velsen. The restoration was completed in 1969 and the property opened as a museum, with a yearly garden festival and a yearly pop festival taking place there.

In 2006 the museum with rooms in the style of the owner Jacob Boreel was closed. The property now belongs to the Vereniging Hendrick de Keyser, which restores and manages other heritage sites in the area. Beeckestijn is due to reopen as a museum of landscape, due to its importance as a relic of Dutch garden history, as well as its role in the nearby water management history (the house was originally on the Wijkermeer).

Beeckestijn

1600: Important events

Sick of the stench from the canals.

In the 17th century, when the Republic of the Netherlands experienced an enormous spurt of economic and cultural growth, many well-to-do inhabitants of Amsterdam fled the city. The main reason for this was that the canals were virtually sewers, and the stench was almost unbearable, particularly in the summer. Those who could afford to do so retired to a summer residence outside the city. The summer residences mostly had a number of fixed features, namely the country house with a decorative garden and/or kitchen garden, an orchard, a coach house and stables, sheds, an orangery and a nearby farm. There are many such mansions along the Vecht and Amstel rivers, as well as in the nearby hillier landscapes of the Gooi or Kennemerland regions. The area around Haarlem, Velsen, Zandvoort and Santpoort was particularly popular among affluent residents of Amsterdam, and Duin & Berg estate and the adjoining Kruidberg estate were also sought-after.

1895: Important event

In the mid-19th century, Floris Adriaan Baron Van Hall, a well-known politician and minister of the time, took ownership of the Duin & Berg and De Kruidberg estates. He combined the two estates, which initially retained their separate names. Van Hall had a new villa built a stone’s throw from the current mansion at Duin & Berg. At the same time, an English architect designed the English landscape garden. In subsequent years, Van Hall and the next owner, Guillaume Louis Jacques van der Hucht, bought up several plots of land around the estate, expanding it further and further towards the coast. In 1895, Jacob Theodoor Cremer and his wife Annie Hermine Hogan bought the state from the heirs of Van der Hucht for 164,400 guilders. Jacob and Annie are the founders of the current estate of Duin & Kruidberg.

1907: Important event

Prince Hendrik had the honour

The Cremers were increasingly dissatisfied with the house that Van Hall had commissioned, and had various alterations and extensions made. Due a lack of space in particular, the Cremers decided to have the ‘old’ house demolished and an entirely new one built instead. For this, they enlisted the architects Van Nieukerken and Sons of The Hague. 

Apart from Jacob, Annie also had a considerable influence on the set of requirements the architects had to meet. Originally from England, she imbued the mansion with the atmosphere of an English country house where all the children and their families could regularly come to visit while the couple retained their privacy. The first brick was laid in July 1907, and before the building and garden were even finished, Mr Cremer decided that the first guests should be received on 2 June 1909. Participants in the International Colonial Convention (Internationaal Koloniaal Congres), an initiative of Cremer’s, enjoyed a handsome reception thanks to a great deal of hard work. The first person to be given a tour was Prince Hendrik, chair of the Dutch division, and husband of Queen Wilhelmina. After the convention, the finishing touches were made to the mansion, and the Cremer family moved in on 28 June 1909. The old building was then demolished and the new building officially completed on 17 October of the same year.

1948: Important event

Officially a hotel since 1948 

Following Jacob Theodoor Cremer’s death in August 1923, the mansion was occupied until 1940 by his son Herbert. During the war and in the post-war years, Duin & Kruidberg Country Estate served various purposes. It was used as a Catholic church and presbytery for the village of Driehuis, and then as accommodation for German officers, it was reclaimed by Canadian forces, nurses of the Red Cross trained there, and it housed a reception centre for returnees from the Dutch East Indies. In 1948, the mansion first officially became a hotel when Cremer’s son Herbert, and later his grandson Theo, leased it to an hotelier. 
 
In 1961, Cremer’s heirs sold the estate to the Dutch Trading Company (Nederlandsche Handel Maatschappij), who set the estate up as a holiday resort for its employees. This was common practice among large organizations and banks in the years following the Second World War. They bought up estates and resorts to strengthen ties with existing employees and attract new ones by offering perks in the form of recreation at a time when workers were in very short supply. In those days, the resort had 92 beds, and employees were initially very enthusiastic about Duin & Kruidberg Country Estate. However, this form of holiday became less popular towards the late eighties, partly because of the considerable increase in other holiday options. Duin & Kruidberg Country Estate would next serve as a conference venue for ABN AMRO bank, which had a conference centre built in 1996 with five conference rooms, four smaller rooms and a Business Centre. In 2000, a hotel wing was added, and in 2002, Duin & Kruidberg Country Estate officially opened its doors as a five-star hotel for the public at large.

https://www.duin-kruidberg.nl/en/contact/history

Duin & Kruidberg Country Estate

The origin of Brederode Castle

The House of Brederode was a noble family, who descended from the Lords Of Teylingen, who would again descend from the Counts of Holland. Dirk van Teylingen (also called Dirk I van Brederode), a younger son of William van Teylingen, is seen by historians as the founder of the House of Brederode, although this is not entirely certain. In 1226 he was appointed as a landdrost at the court of the Count of Holland and, in the absence of the Count, was his first substitute.
The Counts of Holland continually fought against the surrounding regions and also against West Frisia. Count William II was killed in that battle. His son Floris V took revenge, defeated the West-Frisians and built a number of strong castles to nip further rebellions in the bud.

One of those castles, Brederode, was built at the end of the 13th century by Dirk van Brederodes son William (2nd Lord) and his wife Hillegonda van Voorne. The castle was located in a strategic position, near the house Aelbertsberg. This hunting lodge of Count Floris V, probably was at the present Caprera at Bloemendaal. William was, as well as many of his male offspring, bailiff (a senior civil servant) of Kennemerland.
His granddaughter Catherine married John I of Polanen and became an ancestress of the House of Orange, the present Dutch royal family. One of the titles of the Dutch monarch, King Willem-Alexander, is still Lord of Polanen.

The Castle destroyed for the 1st time

Around 1350 a battle broke out to the county of Holland between Margaret of Bavaria and her 13-year-old son William V. This was the beginning of the Hook and Cod Wars. Dirk III (5th Lord) chose the side of Margaret and became the captain of de Hook faction. Dirk was defeated and captured and Brederode Castle was destroyed. Three years later Dirk was released and in 1354 he rebuilt his castle. But the Hook and Cod Wars continued until the end of the 15th century and in 1426 the castle was destroyed again. This time by the Cods from Haarlem.

From 1414 onwards, the Lords of Brederode used to live at Batestein Castle in Vianen, after the marriage of Walraven I (8th Lord) with Joanna of Vianen.

Half a castle

Reinoud II (9th lord) made the north side of Brederode Castle habitable again in a slimmed-down form, as a nobleman’s house, around 1464. After his death, his widow Yolande de Lalaing, who was the daughter of William de Lalaing, stadtholder of Holland, moved into the castle. She would be the last occupant, until 1492. The castle was damaged by German mercenaries during the ‘Bread and Cheese Revolt’. Habitation was no longer possible. The final blow for the castle was in 1573 after the siege of Haarlem by Spanish soldiers during the Eighty Years War. The castle turned into a ruin.

A national monument

In the 19th century Brederode Castle became one of the first national monuments of the Netherlands where experience with restoration was gained. The restoration was carried out by Pierre Cuypers, architect of the Rijksmuseum building and the central station, both in Amsterdam. Nobody knows how the castle looked like. Nowadays we know mistakes were made during this restoration. For instance, the courtyard was dug out too deeply, because they wrongly thought there had been cellars underneath. There are also embrasures in the walls around the courtyard that originally never were there.

Brederode during World War II

In the book ‘Velsen Bezet en Bevrijd’ (Velsen occupied and liberated), written by G.G.E. Hartendorf, you will find description of the Castle during wartime.
Click here for the chapter (in Dutch) ‘Joden en NSB-ers samen naar de film’ (p. 119-121)

During his hiding period, Mr. M.P. van Dijk made a scale model of Brederode Castle. He made the little bricks out of real bricks. After the war, the then manager of the Castle, Mr Van der Kort, also made a scale model. This is on display in the chapel tower of the Castle.
It is not known at this time where Mr Van Dijk was hiding. The scale model is in the possession of the Museon in The Hague.

Brederode nowadays

Nowadays, many descendants of the Lords of Brederode still live, but only in the female and bastard lines, see www.huisbrederode.nl (Dutch) The castle has been owned by Monumentenbezit since 2016, is managed by the volunteers and administrators of the non-profit foundation Stichting Heerlijkheid Brederode and is open to the public from March to October.

The Castle and the Lords of Brederode

Egmond Castle (Dutch: Kasteel Egmond), also called the Ruins of Egmond (Dutch: Ruïne van Egmond), is a ruined medieval castle in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is located in Egmond aan den Hoef in the municipality of Bergen and lies about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of Alkmaar. The castle dates from the 11th century and is the ancestral seat of the Egmond family, whose members became sovereign Dukes of Guelders, Counts of Egmond and Princes of Gavere, Counts of Buren and Leerdam. It is a national monument of the Netherlands.

Origins

The origins of Egmond Castle is closely connected to Egmond Abbey, which was founded by the counts of Holland in Egmond-Binnen. When they Abbey lands became so large, the abbot decides to appoint a certain Berwout as steward of these estates in 1129. Berwout and his descendants live in a (fortified) farm or manor ("Hoeve") north of the abbey. As Berwout and his descendants took part in the crusades, they were rewarded with the hereditary lordship over Egmond.

First Castle | 1206–1285

Walter I, Lord of Egmond got involved in the Loon war, a war of succession over the County of Holland (and its dependency Zeeland) from 1203 until 1206, brought on by the death of count Dirk VII. During this war, Louis II, Count of Loon sets the fortified manor at fire in 1203. Walter I decided to build a circular stone castle as replacement. It had a diameter of 27 meters, a strong keep on the south side and a curtain wall. The main purpose was to serve as a place for refuge and defence in times of peril. The main living and residential buildings were in the forecourt. This circular castle existed until the end of the 15th century.

Second Castle - First Building Phase | 1285–325

William II, Lord of Egmond constructed a new castle in the forecourt as a replacement for the old circular castle. He divided the forecourt in a western and eastern side. On the eastern side, the main castle was erected with a large tower, the so called donjon. And on the western side the forecourt was erected including two towers. In the same time, the castle chapel was also built.

Third Castle - Second Building Phase | 1325–1573

The second castle was destroyed by the Frisians in 1321. John I, Lord of Egmond erected a new castle as a replacement.

John III of Egmont was the first Count of Egmont as well as an important statesman in the Burgundian Netherlands. He decided to enlarge and decorate the castle: a large hall including paintings of his ancestors, towers and a beautiful gatehouse with turrets on each corner were added, wooden bridges were replaced by stone ones. The main tower, the donjon, gets a height of 28 metres. People call the castle the largest and most beautiful one of Holland.

As the Egmond family rose to prominence within the Burgundian Netherlands, they spent more and more time in the south of the Netherlands, e.g. in the Egmont Palace in Brussels, the Egmont castle in Zottegem or the castle in La Hamaide.

Lamoraal I, Count of Egmont and first prince of Gavere was the grandson of John III. He was a leading general and statesman in the Spanish Netherlands during the 16th century. His beheading in Brussels in 1568 sparked the national uprising which led to the independence of the Netherlands. Troops led by Diederik Sonoy set both Egmond castle and the abbey on fire in 1573. The destruction was at the command of the Prince of Orange to prevent that the Spanish army could occupy these strategic locations.

Ruins

Count Lamoraal II, son of Lamoraal I, was the last member of the Egmond family who owned the castle. Due to debts, he was forced to sell the castle and the surrounding estates to the States of Holland and West Friesland in 1607, who remained the owner for the remainder of the 17th century. Gerrit van Egmond van Nijenburg, a scion from a younger (bastard) branch of the Egmond family, decided to buy the ruins in 1722. His son, Jan van Egmond van Nijenburg, restored two towers at the entrance of the castle.

Just like the Ruins of Brederode the ruins of Egmond Castle became a favourite subject of the artists in the Dutch golden age. Painters like Meindert Hobbema and Jacob van Ruisdael or sketchers like Roelant Roghman or Cornelis Pronk depicted the ruins in romantic settings or how they imagined the castle looked like in more glorious times. These paintings are scattered around the world and can be admired in places like the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam or the Art Institute of Chicago.

Ms Jacoba van Foreest, married with Mr Tinne, became proprietors of the ruins in 1798. They are responsible for the disappearance of the ruins, as they sold it for demolition with exception of the so-called 'rentmeestertoren' or 'clock tower'. However, in the end, they stopped the maintenance and tore it down in 1832. Nothing remained of the castle as from 1836 onwards. The loss of the castle ruins started discussions in the Netherlands around heritage awareness and how to treat monuments. As a result, Brederode castle, the other great ruins in Holland, became one of the first national monument of the Netherlands.

Excavations

The province of North Holland became the owner of the castle grounds in 1933, nothing more than a swamp. They immediately started to perform archaeological excavations, which lasted until 1936. Both the fundaments of the first circular and the second square castle were discovered, and not only the exterior walls, but also some of the interior walls. Further, they established that the castle did not have cellars. The decision was made to brick up the walls to raise the fundaments above the grounds. These are the ruins we see today, with some small remainder of the clock tower.

Modern times

Today, the ruins can freely be visited. A statue has been erected in memory of count Lamoraal I of Egmont in 1997, a copy from the statue which stands in the 'Egmont city' Zottegem in Flanders. From time to time, there a discussions to restore (parts of the) castle, but none has been realized.

Egmond Castle


The Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum dedicated to arts and history in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and the Concertgebouw.

The Rijksmuseum was founded in The Hague on 19 November 1798 and moved to Amsterdam in 1808, where it was first located in the Royal Palace and later in the Trippenhuis. The current main building was designed by Pierre Cuypers and first opened in 1885. On 13 April 2013, after a ten-year renovation which cost € 375 million, the main building was reopened by Queen Beatrix. In 2013 and 2014, it was the most visited museum in the Netherlands with record numbers of 2.2 million and 2.47 million visitors. It is also the largest art museum in the country.

The museum has on display 8,000 objects of art and history, from their total collection of 1 million objects from the years 1200–2000, among which are some masterpieces by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer. The museum also has a small Asian collection, which is on display in the Asian pavilion.

History

18th century

In 1795, the Batavian Republic was proclaimed. The Minister of Finance Isaac Gogel argued that a national museum, following the French example of The Louvre, would serve the national interest. On 19 November 1798, the government decided to found the museum.

On 31 May 1800, the National Art Gallery, precursor of the Rijksmuseum, opened in Huis ten Bosch in The Hague. The museum exhibited around 200 paintings and historic objects from the collections of the Dutch stadtholders.

19th century

In 1805, the National Art Gallery moved within The Hague to the Prince William V Gallery, on the Buitenhof.

In 1806, the Kingdom of Holland was established by Napoleon Bonaparte. On the orders of king Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, the museum moved to Amsterdam in 1808. The paintings owned by that city, such as The Night Watch by Rembrandt, became part of the collection. In 1809, the museum opened in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.

In 1817, the museum moved to the Trippenhuis. The Trippenhuis turned out to be unsuitable as a museum. In 1820, the historical objects were moved to the Mauritshuis in The Hague and in 1838, the 19th-century paintings "of living masters" were moved to King Louis Bonaparte's former summer palace Paviljoen Welgelegen in Haarlem.

In 1863, there was a design contest for a new building for the Rijksmuseum, but none of the submissions was considered to be of sufficient quality. Pierre Cuypers also participated in the contest and his submission reached the second place.

In 1876, a new contest was held and this time Pierre Cuypers won. The design was a combination of gothic and renaissance elements. The construction began on 1 October 1876. On both the inside and the outside, the building was richly decorated with references to Dutch art history. Another contest was held for these decorations. The winners were B. van Hove and J.F. Vermeylen for the sculptures, G. Sturm for the tile tableaus and painting and W.F. Dixon for the stained glass. The museum was opened at its new location on 13 July 1885.

In 1890, a new building was added a short distance to the south-west of the Rijksmuseum. As the building was made out of fragments of demolished buildings, the building offers an overview of the history of Dutch architecture and has come to be known informally as the 'fragment building'. It is also known as the 'south wing' and is currently (in 2013) branded the Philips Wing.

20th century

In 1906, the hall for the Night Watch was rebuilt. In the interior more changes were made between the 1920s and 1950s - most multi-coloured wall decorations were painted over. In the 1960s exposition rooms and several floors were built into the two courtyards. The building had some minor renovations and restorations in 1984, 1995–1996 and 2000.

A renovation of the south wing of the museum, also known as the 'fragment building' or 'Philips Wing', was completed in 1996, the same year that the museum held its first major photography exhibition featuring its extensive collection of 19th-century photos.

21st century

In December 2003, the main building of the museum closed for a major renovation. During this renovation, about 400 objects from the collection were on display in the 'fragment building', including Rembrandt's The Night Watch and other 17th-century masterpieces.

The restoration and renovation of the Rijksmuseum are based on a design by Spanish architects Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz. Many of the old interior decorations were restored and the floors in the courtyards were removed. The renovation would have initially taken five years, but was delayed and eventually took almost ten years to complete. The renovation cost € 375 million.

The reconstruction of the building was completed on 16 July 2012. In March 2013, the museum's main pieces of art were moved back from the 'fragment building' (Philips Wing) to the main building. The Night Watch returned to the Night Watch Room, at the end of the Hall of Fame. On 13 April 2013, the main building was reopened by Queen Beatrix. On 1 November 2014, the Philips Wing reopened with the exhibition Modern Times: Photography in the 20th Century.