De Haar Castle
In 1890 Baron Etienne van Zuylen van Nijevelt inherited the ruins of De Haar Castle, just outside the village of Haarzuilens, which was originaly build in the thirteenth century. Although living in Paris he decided to rebuild the house. He was married to Hélène de Rothschild, daughter of a very wealthy Paris banker, and she decided to pay the restoration as a wedding-gift. They commisioned P.J.H. Cuypers, the famous architect, to undertake the gigantic project.
They thought it would take about two years to finish, but it became twenty. The castle was going to be rebuild in Neo-Gothic style, in a very personal version.
Originally the house was build next to the village, but the baron wanted a huge park and room, and therefore the village had to move. They pulled down the whole village, except for the church, which became the chapel of the castle, and rebuild it two kilometre further on. The baron wanted a park with huge, grown-up trees, so they moved 4000 big trees from the Hillback of Utrecht to the park. Some of the houses in Utrecht had to be demolished, otherwise the trees couldn't pass. No problem, money didn't matter.
De Haar Castle, castle from a fairy-tale.
In the fifteenth century a knight called Coenraed was living at the castle. He was a very selfish man, who didn't believe in God or anything, and he didn't care for anyone.
One day he came back riding on his horse in full armery, when he heard a voice asking for food and a place to stay. The knight shook his head and rode on. The beggar shouted at him that he was also a human being. The knight went mad and wanted to hit the man. Turning he gave his horse the spurs, but it misstepped and they ended up into the moat. The knight drowned because of his heavy armery. His ghost is still seen wandering around the castle.
The front-side of the castle.
