The heritage of Apeldoorn

Centuries-old agricultural settlements such as Uddel, Meerveld, Hoog Buurlo, Wenum-Wiesel, Beekbergen and Loenen have left behind beautiful landscapes featuring old fields, hedgerows, farmhouses, sheepfolds and woods. In such an area, you sometimes feel as though you’ve stepped back in time to the landscape of five hundred years ago.

In the early Middle Ages, there was a thriving iron industry on the moraine

There are still many archaeological remains of this underground, and iron ore pits and slag heaps can be seen on the surface.
Centuries-old agricultural settlements such as Uddel, Meerveld, Hoog Buurlo, Wenum-Wiesel, Beekbergen and Loenen have left behind beautiful landscapes featuring old fields, hedgerows, farmhouses, sheepfolds and woods. In such an area, you sometimes feel as though you’ve stepped back in time to the landscape of five hundred years ago.

The water flowing from the Veluwe gave rise to the first industry on the outskirts of the old settlements: water mills. Many more were built, particularly in the 17th century, fed by newly dug irrigation channels. These water mills were constructed to serve the rapidly growing paper industry. This industry remains important in the municipality to this day, and watermills can still be seen there.

The House of Orange has left its mark on the municipality ever since the purchase of the Het Loo country estate in the 17th century. The current palace and museum was actually built as a hunting lodge on the orders of the powerful Stadtholder William III, who was also King of England.
The appeal of the royal family meant that, in the 19th century, Apeldoorn developed much more rapidly than the other villages. The king also played a part in the construction of the Apeldoorn Canal and the railway. Thanks to the Veluwsche Stoomtrein Maatschappij, the railway still serves a museum and recreational purpose today.

In the shadow of Het Loo, other country estates also sprang up. The Pasch estate was developed into the upmarket villa district of De Parken, right next to the old village of Apeldoorn. In the early 20th century, the town began to grow rapidly. The Dorpsstraat became the Hoofdstraat, lined with luxury shops. During this century, increasing leisure time and the benefits of the fresh air led to many recreational and care facilities establishing themselves in the villages and the surrounding countryside, often in distinctive buildings.

During the post-war reconstruction period, the city experienced strong growth once again, with a further boost in the 1960s and 1970s due to the central government’s policy of decentralisation: Apeldoorn was to become ’the nation’s second desk’, which led, amongst other things, to the construction of remarkable landmarks such as the Orpheus Theatre and the world-famous Centraal Beheer office building.

If you would like to find out more about Apeldoorn’s heritage, please also take a look at the Apeldoorn Council’s Heritage Information on the CODA’s website.