The majestic House Bingerden is a perfect example of a noble mans mansion in the Middle-ages of which the history goes back more than 1000 years. The gardens of House Bingerden are worldfamous, thanks to the International Specialist Nursery Days.
Hamaland
The name of Bingerden was first found in history in the year 970. In those days there was a farmhouse used as a stronghold, surrounded by a canal. Bingerden belonged to the county of Hamaland, a possession of Count Wichman. On the Elterberg hill, he founded a monastery and donated them large parts of his possessions, among which Bingerden.
Pabst
After the dead of Adela, the daughter of count Wichman, Hamaland – and thus Bingerden – fell into the hands of the archbishop of Cologne. In those days a stone house was built on the spot of the former Bingerden farmhouse. In 1662 the house was sold to Hermann Pabst, one of the ancestors of the current owner. The Pabst family had high functions in the Brandenburg-Pruisian administration in Kleve.
Gardens
The successors of the Pabst family got more dutchified and earned high administrative functions in the 17th century Republic of The Netherlands. Johan Maurits Pabst for example was secretary of the towncouncil of Amsterdam, one of the most important civil functions in the capital. He ordered to rebuild the façade of House Bingerden en hired the German landscape architect J.P. Posth in 1791 to redesign the gardens in English landscapestyle. This style can still be seen in the wide surroundings of the mansion.
WO II
Even Bingerden suffered severely in WO II. In april 1945 the retreating German troups set the house on fire. After the war, in 1958, the house was rebuilt on a smaller scale. Nowadays the house and gardens are still private property. Groups of 15 persons or more can get a private-tour in the gardens in May and June.
