Draft:Royal Collections of the Netherlands

Royal House Archives, the building in which the Dutch Royal Collections are housed

Inside the library of the Royal House Archives housed in the right wing of the building. In the foreground a statue of William the Silent can be seen.

The Royal Collections of the Netherlands are a part of the Dutch Royal House. The house archive has existed as such since 1825, first just as a collection of the important family archives, later a library and collections related to the House of Orange were added.

Because of the special role played by the House of Orange-Nassau in Dutch society, past and present, and that of other countries in Europe and around the globe, many of the items in the Royal Collections of the Netherlands are closely associated with important events and periods of Dutch or world history. The archives, library works, documentation and photographs held in the Royal Collections of the Netherlands provide information about this history. By applying a policy of integrated heritage management, it is possible to show the significance of the members of the House of Orange and to study their collections in their original context. As the archives and other collections are privately owned the reigning monarch of the Netherlands has to give permission for research in or loans from the collection.

Housing

The collections and it's staff are housed in the Royal House Archives (in Dutch; Koninklijk Huisarchief) next to the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague. The building was designed by squire J.P.E. van Hoeufft van Velsen, intendant of the Dutch royal palaces.. It is build in neo-Renaissance style. Construction of this building started in 1896 and it was ready for use in 1899. The first stone of the building was laid by the then 16 year old princess Wilhelmina (the later Queen of the Netherlands) in presence of her mother Queen Emma who ordered the construcion of the building as part of her efforts to make the importance of the House of Orange-Nassau for the Dutch state more tangible and visible. She made a great effort to achieve this after the death of her husband King William III, under whose reign the monarchy had suffered a major dent, as well as as a counterweight to the rise of political parties that seemed to want to get rid of the Royal Family as an important Dutch institution.

Collection

The collection of the Royal Collections can be found in the Dutch Palaces and royal institutions;

• Noordeinde Palace
• Huis Ten Bosch Palace
• Royal Palace Amsterdam
• Royal Stables
• and former palace, now museum Het Loo Palace

As well as in governement buildings and musea on a national as well as an international level.

Examples of important pieces in the collections are;

• One of the only remaining letters of the hand of the world famous painter Rembrandt van Rijn to Christian Huygens
• Two portraits by Joos van Cleve of Archduke Charles V and his wife Archdutchess Eleonora of Austria
• 16th century table knife of William the Silent, the Dutch statesman who is seen as the founding father of the Netherlands
• 17th century Order of the Garter belt bag and the last undervest (worn at his death bed) of William III of England (who also was Stadthouder of the Dutch Republic)
• Four original maps from 1815 retreived from the coach of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte after the battle of Waterloo
• Wexy, the mounted warhorse that (the later Dutch King) William II rode at the battle of Waterloo as commander of the 1st Allied Corps under the Duke of Wellington as well as his original uniform jacket, sabre and cocked hat