Soestdijk Palace

Baarn, Netherlands

Soestdijk is a former palace of the Dutch Royal Family. It consists of a central block and two wings. It was the home for over six decades of Queen Juliana and her husband, Prince Bernhard until their deaths in 2004.

In the middle of the seventeenth century the Country house on the Zoestdijk was built for Cornelis de Graeff. After the rampjaar his son Jacob de Graeff sold it to Stadhouder William III. Then the palace originally started as a hunting lodge that was built between 1674 and 1678 by Maurits Post, who was also involved in building two other royal palaces, Huis ten Bosch Palace and Noordeinde Palace. William left the Netherlands in 1688 to reside in London as William III of England.

During the French invasion in 1795, the palace was seized as a spoil of war and turned into an inn for French troops. When Louis Bonaparte became King of Holland, he took possession of it and had it extended and refurnished.

It was presented to William II of the Netherlands in 1815 in recognition of his services at the Battle of Waterloo. From 1816 to 1821, the palace was significantly expanded by adding two wings, the northern or Baarn wing, and the southern or Soest wing. In 1842 its contents were enriched by the addition of the neoclassical furnishings of his former palace in Brussels, today the Palais des Académies.

Soestdijk became the property of the State of the Netherlands in 1971, though it was used by Princess Juliana (Queen of the Netherlands from 1948–1980) and Prince Bernhard as their official residence until both of their deaths in 2004. Soestdijk Palace then remained empty and unused for over a year before its opening to the public. Since spring 2006, it has been possible to visit.

A forest, the Baarnse Bos, is adjacent to the palace. It was developed as a French landscape garden between 1733 and 1758.

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Founded: 1674
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Netherlands

Rating

4.3/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Juliana Siapai (2 months ago)
Beautiful place to visit and understand the history of the palace.
Justyna (5 months ago)
The concert at this venue was truly magical. Access to the stage by bus from the parking lot, all well thought out and well organized.
Eduardo Mojica (8 months ago)
Nice for a day out! Beautiful gardens with a lot of flowers and variety of plants. There’s a nice restaurant there although they are under staffed so they can be very slow to take your order. The whole state is huge! So be ready for a day full of walking. Getting here by public transport is easy but there are not a lot of options so if you miss your bus back be ready to wait an hour or more for the next one.
RvH Ronald (12 months ago)
Was there because of the live tv- broadcast of "Wie is de Mol". Location is perfect but I think the Palace, although i haven't been inside, falls into the old glory category and it could use a little paint here and there ? but the entourage was fine last night also because of the final exposure of the Mole of course?
Jeroen De V (4 years ago)
Love my home town
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