Visiting Grand Houses: Paleis Noordeinde

Hello my friends,

In june I showed you some pictures of Paleis het Loo near the city of Apeldoorn. Which has been the summer residence for many of the stadhouders and kings of the Netherlands well into the 20th century.

And where there is a summer palace, there is also a winter palace.

The royal winter residence (since the restauration of the House of Oranje in 1813) was Paleis Noordeinde in The Hague. Since queen Beatrix ascended the throne in 1980 Paleis Noordeinde is in use as the 'work' palace since 1984. In effect it is the office of the reigning monarch while they live in "Paleis Huis ten Bosch" on the other side of the city.

The Noordeinde palace consists (mainly) of two parts. The old  building you see above. And the 19th century part which you see below. The 17th century building was erected on the site of an older building by Prince Frederik Hendrik in 1643. 

In 1813, after the fall of Napoleon, Prince Willem returned to the Netherlands, where he was proclaimed Sovereign Prince and a year later King of the Netherlands. The expansions to turn it into a royal residence began in 1814. They involved the large wings at the back of the 1643 building you can see in the picture below. From the air it looks a bit like two different palaces standing back to back. 

The Constitution of 1814, turning the prince into a sovereign king, decreed that the State must provide a summer and a winter home for the monarch. Initially there were plans to build a new winter residence, but in the end it was decided to make extensive alterations to the "Oude Hof" as the palace had been called since the 17th century. And since the extension the name of the building changed from Oude Hof into Paleis Noordeinde.

The visit started in the forecourt of the old classicist building. After our tickets, bags and coats were checked we entered the forecourt and enter the palace by its main front entrance. Because this palace is more or less the office of the monarch this entrance is mainly used on certain occasions like when the king opens the parliamentary year or when new ambassadors come to offer their credentials when taking up their post in The Hague.

I forgot to take pictures of the two successive entrance halls which were quite imposing with a lot of marble and raised stucco and furnished with ornate malachite tables. But I did make pictures of all the busts of all the stadhouders since Willem de zwijger up to Willem V. Adorning the hall of the grand staircase as an ancestral gallery. But rest assured, I am not going to show you all 10 of these. 

I show you only two of these busts. Willem III, internationaly better known as king William (King Billy) of William & Mary who ruled great Britain after the Glorious Revolution in 1688. During his reign Huis ter Swinnendael was rebuilt back in 1675. In the history I have written for the house and family, the troops of Louis XIV burn down the old Renaissance style Huize ter Swinnendaele in 1672. That year called het Rampjaar (disaster year, Annus Horribilis) the Dutch Republic was attracked from four sides but survived somehow. The southern part was invaded by France and many great houses were burnt to the ground. Only to be rebuilt in the new fashionable arhitecture of Dutch Classicism. So this koning stadhouder Willem III plays a role in the fictitious history of Zonneschut family.

And the second bust is Willem V. The last of the Stadhouders before the title 

9and. He plays a role ofcourse in the permanent voluntary excile of the Carel Polyander and Anna Belle to their summer retreat. First Carel Polyander was stripped of his diplomatic post in Paris as the first secretary to the embassy due to his sons revolutionary actions in the surpressed Batavian Revolt in 1787. because of his sons fraternising with the revolutionary regime in Paris, he is banished from the Princs's court. And when in 1795 Willem V flees to England he 'flees' from The Hague to the new Huis ter Swinnendael his grandfather built in 1675. To mock and mope the days away in a luxurious exile. 

But that is enough of Zonneschut family history. let's get back to the palace!

This room fully clad in tropical hardwoods is called the Indische Zaal (East Indies Room). To celebrate the marriage of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry in 1901, the government of the then Dutch East Indies decided to give the couple a rather unusual wedding present: an East Indies Room for Noordeinde Palace. Two existing rooms on the ground floor were knocked through to make space for the exotic gift. To produce its individual wooden elements, more a thousand of them in all, woodcutters from all over the Indonesian archipelago were brought its capital, Batavia. The teak panelling features traditional Javenese Hindu and Buddhist motifs as well as contemporary Javanese carvings. The showcases contain gifts presented to members of the royal family by Indonesian royalty over the years.

This red salon is called the Rear reception Room (it ovelrooks the gardens in the back) unfortunaltely the grand front receptionroom was not open to us as visitors. Over the years, what is now the Rear Reception Room has had a variety of functions. In the early nineteenth century it was known as the Marshal’s Dining Room, but King William III had it converted into a library soon after his investiture in 1849. Some time after 1898 it became a silver safe. Today it is used for small formal receptions and is also placed at the disposal of dignitaries staying in the palace’s adjacent guest wing. that wing was also closed to us unfortunately.

Directly above the red salon, on the 'piano nobile,' where all the staterooms are located, we find this diningroom. it is called the Marot room since it is decorated in the Marot style. albeit the 19th century version of it. I was told that on working days King Willem Alexander and the senior staff lunch here. I think this is the swankiest canteen in the Netherlands. :-)

If that story of a fellow visitor is not true, than it is still a marvelous diningroom. I would not mind having a dinner heer. Now where is my tux?

The Putti Room was originally designed for Queen Sophie in the mid nineteenth century. it's most striking feature are the silk wall hangings with putty and flourishes woven into it. It is now used by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima for their weekly meeting with senior palace officials. You could call it the board room of the work palace. :-)

These three photo's are od the grand ballroom slap bang in the middle of the Corps the Logies. It has state rooms on all four sides which means that it has no windows into its walls. The only windows in this room are on the short ends of the varrel vaulted ceiling. In the picture above it is largely obscured by the large chandelier. For a room that is exclusively used in the evenings or night this is not a problem. But for a visit during the daytime all the chandelers need to be lit. 

The stucco decorations and the Empire style of this room may remenisce you of the Pavilion Zu Wied I showed you earlier this year. And if so than you are right. Here the sea horses are griffins and the corals and shells are replaced by acanthus scrolls and rosettes, but the decor dates from the smae period and are in the same style. Although this grand ballroom is way more luxuriously decorated than the salon of the pavilion. How many grand dinners, balls and receptions have been held in this magnificent room? 

On both sides of the ballroom are square antechambers decorated in the same style and with the same colourscheme as the ballroom. My house in its entirety would easily fit a few times in these three rooms... And it is certainly not the larges ballroomin Europe. Not by far. But impressive none the less.

What is now the Green Antechamber was originally red according to the information on the stand. I think I preferr green. The most striking detail in this room is the marble mantelpiece with the monogram “W” (for King William I) and the national coat of arms. This fireplace may be one originally supplied by Lefebvre in 1817 for a throne room which was never built. So you see, it is good to hang onto miniatures you can not use as intended. There is often a good alternative use or location to be found.  :-)

At just over 24 metres, the Gallery is the second-longest room in Noordeinde Palace. It is used regularly for formal dinners. Along the rear wall, opposite the windows, hang five large portraits painted by Jean-Baptiste van der Hulst between 1830 and 1836. Originally intended for the Brussels palace of the Prince of Orange (the later King William III), they depict the children, two daughters-in-law and a granddaughter of King William I.

The Balcony Room is often used by the King on Wednesday mornings, when newly appointed ambassadors present their credentials. Just like in the green room several W's  are to be gound on the plaster ceiling. although they do not show up very clearly in my picture. As the name suggests, this room opens onto the balcony where the royal family traditionally makes an appearance after the annual King’s Speech to Parliament. this you can see in the picture below. naturally we could not go onto the balcony, but oh, how I would have loved to do so. 

And soon after the balcony room it was already time to leave the palace by the small grand staircase. Although only a small portion of the palace is open to visitors I greatly enjoyed visiting this in between the existing streets and buildings of this part of old The Hague. One look back up into the stairwell and a little later we were back in the forecourt, collecting our bags and umbrella's. It was time for to find a good place to order a (royal) lunch!

Huibrecht