The Genteel Beauty of Lievendaal

There’s a charming villa on the eastern edge of town near Lepelenburg Park. It’s called Lievendaal and was built in 1862. I’ve been meaning to write about it for ages, or at least, I’ve been meaning to do the research on the building, since I’ve been taking photos of it for years. This first photo was taken in 2011, but it was a set of photos I took a couple of weeks ago that finally reminded me to look up the details on the building.

One of the reasons I’ve always noticed the villa is because of the gorgeous magnolia tree out front, which was in beautiful bloom at the beginning of May. Along with the circular porch and some of the other trees in and around the property, it often reminds me of the southern part of the US I know so well.

The house is located on a slight hill that was part of the remnants of the old city walls. It’s located between Lepelenburg Park and Zocher Park. The Lepelenburg Park stands where a stronghold of the same name once stood. There were various of these strongholds around the city.

Someone named G. Reede (I need to search to find out more about this person) is the one who commissioned the building in 1862. It was built in the Eclectic style, and though I can’t find a specific architect, it does seem that Jan David Zocher, who designed the extensive Zocher Park, played some role in the villa’s design.

Although I don’t know anything about Reede, I do know a bit about a later resident of Lievendaal. From 1958-1962, Irene van Lippe-Biesterfeld lived there while she was attending Utrecht University. Certainly much fancier than any of the places I lived during my university days! Of course, housing like that is probably fairly standard when your mother is the queen. Irene was the second daughter of Queen Juliana and the younger sister of Beatrix, who recently abdicated the throne for her son. It’s worth reading the Wiki page about her for some of the story on how she came to give up all rights to succession.

I don’t know who owns the villa now, but it remains a beautiful part of the landscape for which it was designed. There were some renovations and additions in the early 1900s, but they seem to have been tastefully done. Best of all, as I mentioned, is the wonderful magnolia tree. During its recent bloom, with the beautiful blue sky behind it, it reminded me of one of my favourite Van Gogh paintings, the almond blossom series.

Unexpected Fanfare

Because I seem to be incapable of going out without passing through the Domplein, we were lucky enough to come across a performance by the Fanfarekorps Der Genie (Engineers Regiment Fanfare Corps) on Sunday afternoon. We had just begun to approach Achter De Dom when we suddenly heard the sound of drums. There, behind the cathedral, they began to perform and we raced up to get a good view and listen.

Per the Corps’ website:

In 1888 the Royal Dutch Army Engineers Regiment Music Corps was first formed by NCOs and volunteer soldiers in the city of Utrecht. Now, 118 years later, volunteers from the Engineers Regiment again uphold the musical tradition of the Engineers Regiment (1748 – 2006).
…
Due to a re-organization within the defense department, the “Engineers Regiment Fanfare Corps” was disbanded. At the beginning of 1997 the idea occurred to breathe new life into the “extinct” music corps. After discussions with the headquarters of the Engineers Regiment Corps, we started to correspond with almost all of those earlier recruits of the Engineers Regiment Fanfare Corps.

In September 1997, the first meeting was held at the “Lunetten Barracks” in the town of Vught, a terrain well-known to us. From this moment, the band was named “Old Members of the Engineers Regiment Fanfare Corps”

Presently, the band consists of 50-65 musicians, all dressed in the historical 1888 uniform.

As we were watching, we couldn’t help noticing two women in their ranks with small casks. It seems that it is a tradition that a small tot of brandy be poured from the cask carried on shoulder straps by the serving girls. Special guests are now usually the recipients of the glass of brandy. The group also sells special bottles of the brandy to help raise money for uniform maintenance.

Finally, here’s a brief bit of the drummers performing.

Time Travel: Utrecht’s Liberation

It was on this date — 7 May 1945 — that Canadian and British forces arrived to officially liberate Utrecht from Nazi control. Although the main liberation of the country was 5 May, it took time for all cities to be fully liberated. Some transitioned relatively smoothly, while other cities, such as Arnhem, suffered under last-ditch efforts from German forces.

(photo courtesy Het Utrechtse Archief)

When the Allied forces arrived in Utrecht, they came into the city center from Biltstraat, moving along Wittevrouwenstraat and Voorstraat, as seen in the photo above. The street is instantly recognizable, even today.

You can also see some silent footage of the residents celebrating the arrival of the liberating troops throughout the city in this short video:

Intocht van de bevrijders in Utrecht, 1945 from De Utrechter on Vimeo.

Feeling Free

It’s been a week of important dates here in the Netherlands. First the last Queen’s Day, and now this weekend — May 4-5 — we’ve had Remembrance Day (Dodenherdenkingdag) and Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag). Remembrance Day (May 4) started as a day of remembrance for those killed during World War II, although now it’s generally a time to remember all who have died in conflict. It is marked each year by special ceremonies and two minutes of silence at 8 p.m.

Remembrance Day is obviously a more somber day, whereas today, Liberation Day (May 5) commemorates the liberation of the Netherlands from the Nazis at the end of World War II. There are large festivals held in cities across the country and Utrecht is hosting a large one this year, in part due to the Vrede van Utrecht (Treaty of Utrect) ongoing celebrations.

Typically, the Dutch flag is only flown on a handful of official days/holidays. As a result, it’s much more noticeable when it is out, as it was this weekend. It seems that technically, it’s not meant to be flown on a Sunday. However, a number of people didn’t follow that particular rule today. Here’s a bit of info on when the flag should be flown:

The Dutch flag instruction also stipulates on which days the flag should be flown. Of course this includes a selection of popular festivities such as Queen’s Day (soon to be King’s Day) and formal occasions such as Liberation Day, royal birthdays, Remembrance Day, Veterans Day, Victory in Europe Day and Koninkrijksdag (Kingdom Day). On these days, the flag may be hoisted from sunrise and must be taken down before sunset. However, as the Dutch flag should never be flown on Sunday, if a celebration happens to fall on that day, the flag is raised the following Monday instead.

Considering the flags were flown on the Domtoren and the Domplein today — even while Prime Minister Rutte was visiting — I’m not sure how hard-and-fast some of those rules are. Anyway, I took a number of photos of the flags flying at various spots around town today. It’s a warm, beautiful day and a great day to celebrate freedom.

A Queen’s Day Pause

Every year — for as we’ve been here, anyway — this historic building/store on the Oudegracht hangs a photo of Queen Beatrix every Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day). Somehow, I’ve always missed getting a photo of the picture until this year. It’s a good thing I got it this year, since it’s the last year Beatrix’s photo will be on display.

Today is the last full day she’ll be queen. Tomorrow morning, she officially abdicates and her eldest son, Prince Willem-Alexander will become king. From then on, I assume the building will hang a photo of King Willem for King’s Day. And yes, there will be a King’s Day in the future. The republican/anti-monarchy groups seem relatively small and low key — I only saw one anti-monarchy sign at the Vrede van Utrecht celebration the other week — but I think the group would grow if we no longer had Queen’s Day or King’s Day, a national holiday.

Queen’s Day is tomorrow, but it begins this evening (Koninginnenacht). The vrijmarkt opens in the afternoon and will be followed by a variety of bands playing at podiums throughout the city. The vrijmarkt — held in cities across the country — is essentially a massive yard sale. A large chunk of the northern part of town is designated for people to set out their wares/cast-offs for sale.

Usually on the actual Queen’s Day, the royal family goes to a different city/region each year and takes part in special festivities. As well as walking through the city/town and shaking hands and waving, they usually take part in various games and watch special performances put on by local groups. It’s kind of nice seeing them all getting involved and having fun, riding small ziplines and tossing toilets.

This year, however, the family will be in Amsterdam where the queen will officially abdicate at 10 a.m. at the Royal Palace. Willem-Alexander will go through the official swearing in and investiture at the Nieuwe Kerk at 2 p.m. The process is a little different than the British monarchy. You can read more about it in an interesting article here, which gives a bit more about the roles of the Dutch monarchy and info about the background of the family.

The events will be televised, of course, but if you don’t want to stay home and watch, you can engage in a bit of gezelligheid and join crowds at locations throughout Utrecht (and other cities) to watch on big screens that have been set up. Here in Utrecht, they will be at Neude, Janskerkhof, and the Stadhuisplein.

NOS will be broadcasting and including live streams, I think, for those outside the country who also want to watch. For the full schedule of the events, the royal website has a fairly detailed listing of who is in attendance and when various events will take place. For a listing of the numerous activities going on here in Utrecht, De Utrechtse Internet Courant has a good writeup.

There will, of course, be orange everywhere. I’m already wearing my new orange T-shirt. Hats, inflatable crowns, orange clothing of all sorts will be out in full force. Sometimes I think the sheer volume of orange on Queen’s Day could possibly even be seen from space as a faint orange hue.

Hopefully all goes smoothly tomorrow and everyone has a good time. It will be the first time since 1890 that the Netherland’s has had a king. Of course, Willem-Alexander and his wife Maxima have three daughters, so Queen’s Day is just taking a short break and will be back with the next generation.

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The Treaty Will Be Televised

Just a few more photos from the Treaty of Utrecht celebration Thursday night. The events were being filmed for tv for a program that aired at 11 p.m. that night right after the events. You can watch the program at this website. I haven’t gotten around to watching more than the first five minutes or so, but I’m looking forward to seeing a few more of the details I may have missed in the crowd.

A Treaty, A Queen, A Future King, and Some Lights

Yesterday, 11 April 2013, marked the 300th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht (Vrede van Utrecht). That was the treaty that helped end the War of Spanish Succession. I’ll let you read the Wikipedia page if you want more of the actual history. The treaty was pretty much the only thing I knew about Utrecht before making plans to move here. As a result, I was kind of excited when I learned a few years ago that the anniversary was coming up and that the city was planning some festivities to commemorate the event.

For the past few years, the city has been installing various light art installations throughout town, known as Trajectum Lumen, referring to the old Roman name for the city. The final installation was revealed last night as part of the celebrations. The final lights were installed on the Domtoren and the big news was that Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem-Alexander (who will take over as king at the end of the month) and his wife Princess Maxima would all be here in Utrecht to celebrate the anniversary and officially “light” the Domtoren.

They arrived in town during the day and attended a special concert inside the cathedral. I didn’t joint the party until later in the evening. When we arrived at the Domplein, a crowd was gathering around the Academiegebouw, the Utrecht University’s historic building on the square. It seemed that the royal family would be appearing on the balcony for the lighting ceremony.

The crowd was friendly, relatively small — although it definitely grew as the evening went on — and I only saw one anti-monarchy protest sign. Even the police presence seemed relatively small, although there was definitely an officer standing near the protest sign holder.

Finally, there was a sign that the ceremony was starting. Drums began to beat and horns came from on top of the cathedral and from the Domtoren itself. Then a strange white figure began to approach.




She and her robot spotlight friends swirled around in front of the Academiegebouw, while the horns and drums continued. (To be honest, I haven’t had a chance to catch up and find out the meaning behind the performance, but it was still impressive, especially considering the stilts she was on, while moving across uneven brick.)

Then, a familiar hairdo appeared in the doorway of the balcony.

It was Queen Beatrix! I was a little disappointed that she wasn’t wearing one of her famous hats, but it was still interesting to see her and Maxima and Willem-Alexander. I’m not particularly pro-monarchy, especially when cuts are being made to people’s benefits, but if I don’t think about the silliness of having a monarchy in this day and age, I’m generally ambivalent. Having seen them on tv occasionally since moving here, particularly on Queen’s Day, it’s interesting to see them in person, in the same way it’s interesting to see anyone famous that you usually only see on screens or in print.

They were accompanied by Aleid Wolfsen, the mayor of Utrecht, who made a short speech, including a quick bit of unplanned gushing about the queen at the very end. The event is one of the last public events the queen will make before handing over the throne to Willem-Alexander on the 30th of April. It was the last official event she’ll do here in Utrecht as queen. As a bit of trivia, Willem-Alexander was actually born here in Utrecht.

And then it was time for the lighting of the Domtoren. All of the arches are now lit each evening from sundown to midnight, and on the hour, there’s a special light show that takes place. Hopefully, I’ll have more photos and video and information on that to come. For now, here’s a look at the Domtoren all lit up, looking lovely as ever.


By the way, celebrations continue tomorrow night, with a big feest (party) on the roof of the A2 tunnel in Leidsche Rijn.

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Bea Bedankt

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