Our most important reason for going to Arnhem was the WWII battle fought there, "A Bridge Too Far", and we had explored all of the history of it for several days. But there were two other interesting sights we wanted to see: the Koehler-Muller museum and the Het Loo Palace.
Koehler-Muller Museum
Not far from the city of Arnhem, just a bus ride away, was the estate of Mrs. Koehler-Muller. She was a rich German woman who had married a Dutchman, Muller, and they built a beautiful hunting lodge in the middle of probably the only woods existing in Holland. Her father was an industrialist of some sort who hired Muller to run his business. Muller made it into an even more profitable business, and, he married his boss's daughter.
In the meantime, she, - I keep calling her she because I can't remember her first name - was very interested in art and had a good friend who was an art dealer. He kept an eye out for good product, and he had a chance to buy several of Van Gogh's last paintings. This was probably in the early 1920's. She and her husband designed and constructed a huge estate in the middle of these beautiful woods and intended to spend their days there. As part of the estate, she established an art gallery for her works that she purchased.
However, as the economy began to slip in the 1920's, she realized that she may lose everything she owned, so she willed her lodge and all of the art work to the Dutch state. As a result, we now are able to visit this wonderful estate and see Van Gogh's work.
Most of the Van Gogh was done around 1890, and so many of his very famous pieces are there: a lot of his outdoor work, as in the wheat fields and, of course, his cafe at the forum, which I love. There are other wonderful works there - I think some Mondrian's - mostly modern art. The house itself is great, and the grounds are open for biking and hiking. We spent the whole day there and had a wonderful time.
The Het Loo Palace
The royal family of the Netherlands had a royal palace, Het Loo, in the country, away from their official home in town. It was fashioned after the Versailles, but on a much smaller scale. Sometime in this century, the royal family willed the palace to the state, so now it can be enjoyed by all. Again, we took a bus from downtown Arnhem to the town of Appledorn, just a few miles away. From its central bus station, we caught another bus out to the estate. Of course, I had to question the bus driver about the place to catch the bus back to the central station, which he did very graciously.
The royal family of the Netherlands had a royal palace, Het Loo, in the country, away from their official home in town. It was fashioned after the Versailles, but on a much smaller scale. Sometime in this century, the royal family willed the palace to the state, so now it can be enjoyed by all. Again, we took a bus from downtown Arnhem to the town of Appledorn, just a few miles away. From its central bus station, we caught another bus out to the estate. Of course, I had to question the bus driver about the place to catch the bus back to the central station, which he did very graciously.
We walked into the grounds of the palace. The entrance is right on a busy street in Appledorn. I think that it must have been way out in the country once upon a time, but now that it is open to the public, things grew around it - like hotels and restaurants and busy streets.
The estate is also in the middle of some glorious woods, so the walk up to the entrance is quite beautiful. We stopped at the little coffee shop and had coffee and a brioche, then made our way to the entrance. It was probably about eleven o'clock in the morning, so there wasn't too much stirring. We had found that the Dutch are not morning people; we had the place practically to ourselves.
There were two things: the house and the gardens. We decided to go through the house first and then enjoy most of the time in the gardens. The house itself is quite beautiful, though not extraordinary, like Windsor, with its huge ballroom and dining rooms. This was really a country estate for a family. The rooms were not huge but very comfortable. When Queen Wilhelmina gave over the crown to her daughter, she moved here permanently, and her rooms were kept as she had them until her death.
Ok, now the gardens. The royal family had designed this garden to copy the gardens of Versailles. They weren't nearly as large, but they were certainly beautiful. They were very French: laid out very symmetrically, with lots of water - fountains and running waterways, and lots of colorful flowers. There was a garden on the side where the queen had her rooms, and another one of the side for the king. The whole gardens stretched out about three football fields. We were so lucky that day; it was sunny and bright, with lots of lazy clouds in the sky. It was a perfect day. I have included a few photos of the gardens. I can just imagine strolling through these wonderful grounds, or setting up for a wonderful party. They are beautiful and serene and just the perfect place to enjoy the afternoon.
Our time in Arnhem was coming to a close. We had a wonderful hotel room, with a great setting of the Rhine right outside our room. We had seen very interesting and beautiful things almost everyday. We found some good restaurants in town, and we had taken a lot of photos. I guess we were ready to head to northern Holland. We headed to the train station for the short train ride to Gronningen. We left Arnhem with lots of good memories.
Photos: Jack, Het Loo Gardens, the full moon outside our hotel room, overlooking the Rhine, and Het Loo palace.
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