Please contact the estate directly for more information, questions or requests.
Hoge Veluwe
Gelderland, Central Netherlands
A unique estate known as a ‘museum of cultural landscapes’ for its combination of nature, wildlife, art and architecture as well as a newly constructed Pavilion visitor’s centre. The Hoge Veluwe Park comprises 5,400 hectares of woodland, heathland, drift sands and peat bogs and is entirely fenced off. It boasts a variety of wildlife and is home to 3 museums! Come ride one of the iconic ‘White Bikes’ and explore!
History
The history of De Hoge Veluwe National Park is one of idealism and vision. Its cultural heritage was formed early in the twentieth century by Anton and Helene Kröller-Müller. Anton was a successful businessman, passionate about hunting and so in 1909, he started purchasing De Hoge Veluwe hunting grounds, in phases. Helene was an enthusiastic art collector. Together Anton and Helene pursued an ideal: uniting nature and art in the interests of the common good.
In the period 1909-1923, the Park was fenced off and animals were brought in (mouflons, red deer and wild boar). The family’s country residence, Jachthuis Sint Hubertus was built and works of art were purchased. This period also saw the start of the construction of a museum for the art collection.
However, around 1923, a serious economic crisis hit. The couple had to discontinue the construction of the museum. The situation deteriorated and the family was no longer able to sustain the property. In 1935, a solution was found where the Park was to be transferred to form part of a Foundation:
De Hoge Veluwe National Park. The art collection was donated to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the government built the museum. This now forms the oldest part of the current Kröller-Müller Museum.
Hoge Veluwe National Park is proud to be the largest privately owned, independently managed nature reserve in the Netherlands. The Park is largely operated without government subsidies and yet it remains ‘for the benefit and enjoyment of the community’, as Helene Kröller-Müller originally intended.
The Park and plays a crucial role in the European Natura 2000 network. It has a wide variety of biotopes providing habitats for protected and rare plant and animal species, a number of which no longer occur anywhere else in the Netherlands. Each year, the Park receives around 600,000 paying visitors, with no detriment to its biodiversity.
Baron Seger van Voorst tot Voorst, director/manager, has been in charge at De Hoge Veluwe Nationale Park since 2003. Since 2012, he has also been Vice President of the Friends of the Countryside and conceived the Welcoming Estates Website.
The Pavilion/Paviljoen Visitor Centre, Education Centre and Restaurant
100 years after the Jachthuis Sint Hubertus was built, De Hoge Veluwe National Park completed work on the Park Paviljoen, a magnificent new heart of the park to welcome visitors.
The Park Paviljoen is a state-of-the-art information centre with areas for receptions and educational activities, as well as various meeting rooms. It also houses a contemporary Park Restaurant, (known for its delicious pancakes!) offering views of the surrounding nature. The Park Shop, with lots of unique local natural products, is also found here.
It was designed by the Netherlands’ finest architects, thus following in the footsteps of Anton and Helene Kröller-Müller, who commissioned numerous buildings from architects including the well-known Henri Van de Velde and Hendrik Petrus Berlage.
Nature Sports
Walking – The Park has various marked rambling routes that visitors can follow. Thanks to the varying landscapes, no route is the same. Choose from Rambling routes (marked by wooden posts), Theme-based walks, Shorter walks and Longer distance walks. You can also select a GPS route, using a digital compass.
Biking – One of the best ways to explore the park is by bike! (It’s free!) The Dutch are well known for biking and here you can ride the iconic “Witte Fiets” or White Bikes – available for all sizes, including babies!
Horses – Riding in the Park is a special experience and there are plenty of bridle paths. However, riders do not have to stay on the marked paths, they can also stray through the forests, heathland and magnificent drift sands under the direction of a guide.
Nature and Wildlife
The Park has coniferous, deciduous and mixed woodland, where coniferous and broad-leaved trees grow side by side. It also has a very unusual Juniper wood. Besides woodland, there is also wet and dry heathland, sand drifts and grasslands. It is interesting to note that each environment has its own types of vegetation.
Discover the “Big Four” mammals of the park: red deer, wild boars, mouflons, and roe deer. The rutting season always brings in many nature lovers. Other mammals more difficult to spot include foxes, badgers, and pine martens. The park also has an incredibly rich and diverse bird population, which keen observers can experience by paying close attention to the sights and sounds around them. Reptiles, amphibians, and insects, some of which are extremely rare, can also be spotted if you are patient!
Museums
Kröller-Müller Museum, with the 2nd largest collection of Van Gogh paintings after Amsterdam,
the Museonder for nature films and interactive information about the area or
Jachthuis Sint Hubertus, the former country residence of the Kröller-Müller’s.
Extra Activities.
The Hoge Veluwe lists all the current activities that are going on at the present time. They include such wonderful pastimes such as market day, early morning walks, bird concerts, horse weekends, guided tours, meditation, workshops, and for children: egg hunts, the nature detective and more…
The Hoge Veluwe National Park is an independent operation in which 90% of revenues consists of its own income and only 10% from grants. You too can contribute to the future of the Park. This will help us maintain and improve the unique natural landscape and exceptional buildings housed within the Park for decades to come
Contact
Please contact the estate directly for more information, questions or requests.
Address
Entrance Schaarsbergen
Koningsweg 17
6816 TC Schaarsbergen
The Netherlands
Entrance Hoenderloo
Houtkampweg 13
7352 TC Hoenderloo
The Netherlands
Entrance Otterlo
Houtkampweg 9
6731 AV Otterlo
The Netherlands
Office address
Apeldoornseweg 250
7351 TA Hoenderloo
The Netherlands