Voor kinderen
Loenen House is one of the finest manor houses in the Overbetuwe region. It is a hunting lodge built in around 1809 on the site of a medieval castle. According to legend, one of the owners, the knight Sir Egbert van Loenen, fell into a nearby whirlpool, castle and all.
Hunting lodge
The origins of Loenen House and the Loenen estate go back more than a thousand years. For centuries, it was an important manorial court belonging to the aristocratic Van Boetzelaer family. Today, the Loenen estate extends over two hundred hectares and includes the hunting lodge, a coach house come orangery and a number of farm buildings and barns. The main building houses a Bed & Breakfast with a shop for art, antiques and interior design.
Legend of Egbert van Loenen
According to legend, one Christmas Eve, the knight, Sir Egbert van Loenen was hosting a feast. Full of festive spirit, Sir Egbert and his guests headed to the neighbouring church in Herveld to ring the new church bell. He knew that the bell had not yet been consecrated yet, and as soon as the first chime rang, the bell flew into the air and came crashing down on top of the castle. The nearby dike broke the castle sank without trace, and Sir Egbert and all of his guests drowned. A deep black ditch marks the spot where the castle once stood, and it is said that sometimes, on Christmas Eve, you can still hear the devil ringing the church bell that lies at the bottom.
The deep black ditch
The deep black ditch really does exist: it is a whirlpool or eddy formed when the dike broke its banks in February 1644. So it is possible that the castle was engulfed by waves, and then rebuilt on the current site of the house. Locals rebuilt a new dike with man and might whilst living on large barges sent from Nijmegen. A unit of soldiers guarded the proceedings as the country was still at war with Spain. Then, when the dike was finished, the captain of the guards was rewarded with 432 litres wine.
