As you walk across the monumental drawbridge, you immediately feel as if you’ve stepped into a breathtaking fairy tale. Kasteel de Haar is by far the largest and most luxurious castle in the Netherlands. Whereas the famous Muiderslot is a compact medieval fortress, this Utrecht landmark boasts no fewer than 200 rooms and a 55-hectare park.Thanks to the Rothschilds’ fortune, you’ll find here a level of opulence from the 19th century that even the royal palace couldn’t match at the time.
The Rothschild Millions: The Rescue of the Largest Castle in the Netherlands
When Baron Étienne van Zuylen van Nyevelt married the French Baroness Hélène de Rothschild in 1887, the fate of the Utrecht ruin changed overnight. With her fabulous banking fortune, the baron gained the means to magnificently rebuild his severely dilapidated ancestral castle.
He commissioned master architect Pierre Cuypers—the man who also designed the Rijksmuseum —with instructions to follow the original medieval contours. Cuypers designed a neo-Gothic fairy tale that served as a monumental family museum, fully financed by the fabulously wealthy French banking dynasty.
Why an Entire Village in Utrecht Had to Make Way
The baron’s megalomania did not stop at the castle walls. To make way for the gigantic 55-hectare park and the large Kruisvijver pond, the original village of Haarzuilens had to be relocated. Because the old cottages ruined the view from his new neo-Gothic palace, the baron simply had the entire village rebuilt a kilometer away. Only the medieval village church was allowed to remain in its familiar spot, and to this day it serves as a reminder of the original residents.
More luxury than the royal palace
What truly made De Haar Castle unique was its unparalleled comfort. The baron and baroness wanted to make a deep impression on their international guests and had state-of-the-art features installed that were completely unthinkable in the Netherlands at the time. The castle featured central heating via an innovative low-pressure steam system, electricity from its own generator, running water, and a passenger elevator.
Even the queen didn’t have that much luxury in her palace back then. This laid the foundation for a legendary tradition: for decades, the castle opened its doors exclusively in September to the global elite. In the ultra-modern kitchen, equipped with a coal-fired stove measuring a full six meters long, both European nobility and famous figures such as Coco Chanel and Roger Moore were treated to culinary delights over the years.
