Nijenrode

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

PARK LAYOUT and LABYRINTH, as part of the country estate Nijenrode. The country estate has its origins in a 13th-century castle. Important expansions and restorations took place notably in the 17th century under Johan I Ortt, who also commissioned the design of a formal garden. From 1907 the country estate was in the possession of the Amsterdam coffee merchant Michiel Onnes. He had the castle restored under the direction of architect E.G. Wentinck to a 17th-century situation and added several outbuildings. The garden architects L.A. Springer and H. Copijn were responsible for the layout, transformed between 1912-1915 into a landscape garden with a mixed character. The Amsterdam art dealer J. Goudstikker had the labyrinth laid out in 1930. Currently Nijenrode University for Business Studies is seated in the castle and with the purchase of land in the direction of the Amsterdam Rhine Canal the territory of the country estate has again been enlarged.

Description

The approximately 27 hectare park, laid out on a rectangle and surrounded by water, borders with one short side on the Straatweg in Breukelen. The ditch located along the road connects with the Vecht and forms the eastern boundary. The ditch widens halfway to form a moat around the island on which the castle stands. To the south of the castle island lies a stone bridge over the eastern ditch, which forms part of the gatehouse. In the south lies a dam in the ditch, on which the access gate stands. To the south of this dam the ditch turns off to the west. After a number of gentle bends the watercourse turns sharply to the west. Entirely in the southwest of the park the water turns to the north. Entirely in the northwest of the park runs a narrower water course to the east. After a turning dam and a number of bends this ditch connects to the eastern ditch. The western watercourse connects with the meandering water feature of the park. This pond lies in the middle in the northern half of the park and via branches is connected not only with this watercourse, but also with the ditch around the southern terrain, where among other things lies the open meadow of the deer enclosure. To the northwest of this lies the labyrinth at the location of the former tennis court. The labyrinth is formed by low box hedges laid out in a pattern of concentric circles and, with respect to the center, positioned in a diagonal arrangement. In the heart is a small sculpture of a putto in a twisted posture.

An oak avenue emphasises the north-south axis and forms the connection between the castle, the gatehouse and the southern access to the park. Parallel to this avenue, more to the west lies—between open lawns and the pond—likewise an oak avenue. Nearly at right angles to these north-south connections lie (in the north) a chestnut avenue, (in the middle) an oak avenue and (in the south) a beech avenue. These remnants of the formal 17th-century avenue structure form the framework within which a landscape layout has been realised. The landscape garden is situated in the northwest, west and southwest of the park. To the north of the castle lies the rose garden, oriented north-south and laid out as a formal garden. To the north of the rosarium lies an oval pond, the so-called fish pond, originally used as a breeding pond. In the north of the park, to the west of the rosarium is located the walled kitchen garden. To the north of the kitchen garden lies a long linden bower.

In the south-southwest of the park lies the moated, nearly rectangular terrain of approximately 2.5 hectares, within which lies among other things the deer enclosure, the orchard and the pheasantry. On the east side lies the bounded parallelogram-shaped terrain of the deer enclosure; a meadow enclosed by an iron fence and in the southwest corner a deer shed. By this shed and in the northwest corner stand plane trees. In the southwestern part of the terrain lies a standard fruit orchard. In the northwestern part lies a pheasantry with aviaries, a feeding house and a play shelter, where once playground equipment stood in front. At the location of the former tennis court lies a labyrinth with box hedges and in the center a sandstone statue of a child with a dolphin. Opposite the labyrinth lies a semicircular pond with a duck house, screened by an iron fence.

Valuation

The park of the historic country estate Nijenrode is of general importance because of its cultural-historical and garden-architectural value as a well-preserved example of a park layout with partial gardens, including the landscape garden with a mixed character by the garden architects L.A. Springer and H. Copijn from the beginning of the twentieth century, the rose garden, the kitchen garden and special elements such as the so-called 'fish pond'; the whole laid out on the 17th-century formal structure of avenues, water features and ditches. The park has ensemble value because of the spatial-functional relationship with the built objects and garden ornaments of Nijenrode. A valuable element within the park layout is the labyrinth from the nineteen-thirties.