For our 27th wedding anniversary, we decided to go for a long hike with Veronica and Brett. While looking at the map of a national park about an hour from us, I noticed that there was a symbol depicting castle ruins in that area, which was a big surprise to us.
After transferring trains in Haarlem and getting off at a small station, it was only about a 15-minute walk. I had completely forgot to pre-book our entrance tickets, which became a new requirement due to COVID-19, but luckily there were still spaces available. This is the Bailey gate of the front castle, which was the house of the manager and is now the ticket office.
There were traditional crafts for sale...
…and a special exhibit to show some history of the powerful Brederode family. This wedding dress apparently dates to 1638.
Other displays were made out of Playmobil. Castle Brederode dates back to 1285, but was destroyed multiple times, including in 1426 after which it was only half rebuilt. When it was destroyed again in 1573, it fell into complete ruins. It wasn’t until the 19th century that it was renovated as a national monument by Pierre Cuypers, the architect of the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam Centraal Station.
The Lords of Brederode moved to Castle Batestein after Castle Brederode became ruins.
The castle had a dungeon and clearly held executions based on this exhibit.
The views from the towers were quite nice.
The castle had many water closets, which were quite a luxury at the time.
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