Doorwerth Castle
In the floodplains of the Rhine, near the Gelderse village of Doorwerth, lies the famous Doorwerth castle. It has a long history, many renovations and even more noble residents. Including a remarkable woman, about whom a well-known novel has been written.
To get to know the first of those inhabitants we have to go back to the Middle Ages. Ridder Berend van Dorenweerd built a castle here on the banks of the Rhine around 1250. It was not very big yet: the structure consisted of one residential tower and was made of wood.
It has not been there for a long time. In 1260, the Count of Gelre, ruler of the area, ordered the tower to be set on fire. Knight Berend had to be punished for his predatory and violent actions in levying tolls on shipping traffic on the Rhine.
In 1280, a descendant of knight Berend rebuilt the tower. Over the years it has been enlarged a bit.
The most famous name associated with Doorwerth Castle is that of Charlotte Sophie van Aldenburg Bentinck (1715-1800). As a descendant of Anton Count of Aldenburg, she was for a short time the wife of William Count Bentinck (1704-1774), castle lord of Doorwerth.
She was an unusual woman at the time: independent, feminist and impulsive. She led an active love life and was a welcome guest at European royal courts.
Traveled and learned as she was, she maintained an exchange of letters with none other than the great French thinker and writer Voltaire (1694-1778). The writer Hella Haasse (1918-2011) recorded her story in the book Mevrouw Bentinck. Incompatibility of Character & The Great Ones (1978).
Finally, an interesting detail that is also given some attention in the castle. Kasteel Doorwerth has built up quite a reputation as a haunted castle among paranormal believers. For a long time there has been talk of ghosts and white wives who would wander around here. In 2004 British researchers - according to their own words - recorded a ghost on video here.
Doorwerth Castle
In the floodplains of the Rhine, near the Gelderse village of Doorwerth, lies the famous Doorwerth castle. It has a long history, many renovations and even more noble residents. Including a remarkable woman, about whom a well-known novel has been written.
To get to know the first of those inhabitants we have to go back to the Middle Ages. Ridder Berend van Dorenweerd built a castle here on the banks of the Rhine around 1250. It was not very big yet: the structure consisted of one residential tower and was made of wood.
It has not been there for a long time. In 1260, the Count of Gelre, ruler of the area, ordered the tower to be set on fire. Knight Berend had to be punished for his predatory and violent actions in levying tolls on shipping traffic on the Rhine.
In 1280, a descendant of knight Berend rebuilt the tower. Over the years it has been enlarged a bit.
The most famous name associated with Doorwerth Castle is that of Charlotte Sophie van Aldenburg Bentinck (1715-1800). As a descendant of Anton Count of Aldenburg, she was for a short time the wife of William Count Bentinck (1704-1774), castle lord of Doorwerth.
She was an unusual woman at the time: independent, feminist and impulsive. She led an active love life and was a welcome guest at European royal courts.
Traveled and learned as she was, she maintained an exchange of letters with none other than the great French thinker and writer Voltaire (1694-1778). The writer Hella Haasse (1918-2011) recorded her story in the book Mevrouw Bentinck. Incompatibility of Character & The Great Ones (1978).
Finally, an interesting detail that is also given some attention in the castle. Kasteel Doorwerth has built up quite a reputation as a haunted castle among paranormal believers. For a long time there has been talk of ghosts and white wives who would wander around here. In 2004 British researchers - according to their own words - recorded a ghost on video here.