Castle Bouvigne NL - Castles on Waymarking.com

Adres:

Bouvigne Estate
Bouvignelaan 5
4836 AA Breda
The Netherlands

The castle of Bouvigne is only accessible on special occasions.

The castle gardens are freely accessible on working days between 09.00 and 16.00. The gardens are closed on weekends. Entrance is free. Dogs are not allowed on the estate.

Bouvigne Castle in the Dutch province of North Brabant is just outside the Ginneken district and close to the Mastbos to the south of Breda. Behind is the Markdal.
Since 1972 it has been owned by Waterschap Brabantse Delta. After restoration between 1975 and 1977 it was reopened on 13 September 1977 by Prince Claus.

History

It is unknown how old the castle is and what it originally looked like. From 1494 on the property De Boeverie there was a cased stone house near the large and small farm located there. The small farm stood at the intersection of Duivelsbruglaan and Bouvignelaan but went up in flames during the siege of Breda by Spinola in 1624. The large farm was since 1614 owned by the Princes of Orange and since 1881 of the state. In 1941 the farm was destroyed by a V1 rocket but later rebuilt.

As far as we know, the stone house first appeared in an official deed in 1554: the will of the former owner Jacob van Brecht. In this will the building was described as a stately stone house surrounded by canals. The mansion has been expanded over time. The first floor of the tower was built between 1554 and 1611 on the stone house. In the three years that followed, a few other renovations followed and the tower was raised with a second floor. On October 8, 1614, Prince Philip William of Orange bought the 'Boeverijen' house for 27,000 guilders from his agent and confidant Jean Baptiste Keeremans who, with his renovations, had given the present Renaissance appearance. Philip-Willem was the eldest son and heir of his murdered father William of Orange. He was baron of Breda from 1609 to 1618. Keeremans expected an appointment as Breda's throne (representing the prince, similar to the function of mayor), but the States-General rejected his appointment because of his Catholicism and alleged anti-Calvinism.
Bouvigne is a grand mansion and was never used as a hunting lodge.

The hunting grounds of the Oranjes were located north of the Prinsenhof (Castle of Breda) and near the Liesbos. The Mastbos is a landscaped production forest for wood. It is not clear what Philip-Willem used the castle for, he lived at the Prinsenhof. Perhaps he made it available as the home of a steward.

A total of eight princes owned the castle in total. In 1637 it was the headquarters when Prince Frederick Henry besieged the city of Breda to put an end to the Spanish domination. Hendrik Carel van Naerssen opposed in 1774 plans to demolish the building due to neglect. The Nassause Domain Council admitted. The well-to-do coffee planter George Ruysch cleaned up the castle and changed the name to Bouvigne (as it was called in 1802 in a deed of sale). From 1930 the castle came into the hands of the government and was for a long time leased to the Catechists of the Eucharistic Crusade (Pius X-foundation).

In 2007, the castle was regularly in local news in connection with controversial construction plans. Since 1 October 2010 castle Bouvigne is one of the official wedding locations within the municipality of Breda.

Castlegardens

There are three different gardens, all with images:
a French garden, built on the initiative of mr. Leopold de Bruyn (the then owner) around 1913
an English garden, built around 1920. In the middle is a chapel built in 1932 by the Pius X-foundation
a German garden, built in the thirties, with the former burial chapel of the mgr. Frans Frencken, the spiritual leader of the catechists
The gardens can be visited. The castle is only on special days, for example the Brabant Castle Day.

Cross-border monumental agreements

Castle Bouvigne has a resemblance to the larger castle of Schoten in the Belgian municipality of Schoten. The glory Breda once stood (from 1167 to 1268) under the authority of the lords of Schoten (the flags of Schoten and Breda are identical). Yet nothing is known of a relationship between the two castles. At the time of the lords of Schoten the good De Boeverie (the later Bouvigne) was possibly already a medieval good. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries there was an encircled mansion, which was owned by the Van Brecht family. After the construction of the current castle had begun in 1548, the final renovation began in 1611, with the house taking its current form.

There are more cross-border monumental agreements between Breda and the province of Antwerp. There is a similarity between the tower of the Grote Kerk in Breda and the Sint-Katharinakerk in Hoogstraten (Noorderkempen).

Accessibility: Partial access Condition: Intact Admission Charge?: yes Website: [Web Link]

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