All About Royal Families

Oh Vienna ... the lovely capital of Austria has tons of Royal History. Walking around the city we passed lots of palaces. One of the most interesting was the Palais Trautson. own picture taken in 2011 Not only the building style of the Palace attracted us, but also the beautiful royal history. The Palace, located at the Museumstrasse 7, once was owned by the Trautson family. Some history The land on which the palace is built originally belonged to Countess Maria Margareta Trautson in 1657 and consisted of a small house and a vineyard.  After the Battle of Vienna, during repairs Johann Leopold Donat von Trautson , the prince of Troutson, commissioned Christian Alexander Oedtl to build the palace in 1712.  Oedtl used designs by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach.  Source picture: Wikipedia In 1760, the palace was bought by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria for 40,000 Guilders, who then gave the palace to the Hungarian Guard.  The Hungarian Guard converted the palace's garden to a ridi

Although Scheveningen is not especially my favourite beach resort in The Netherlands, I'd like to do a special mention of the Kurhaus. The Kurhaus of Scheveningen, The Hague in the Netherlands is a hotel which is called the Grand Hotel Amrâth Kurhaus The Hague since October 2014. It is located in the main seaside resort area, near the beach. A beautiful History The Kurhaus was built between 1884 and 1885 by the German architects Johann Friedrich Henkenhaf and Friedrich Ebert. It consisted originally of a concert hall and a hotel with 120 rooms. Having suffered serious damage by fire, it was rebuilt between 1886 and 1887.  Interior The ceilings were painted by the Brussels artist Van Hoeck and his large workshop.  The history continued Until the mid 1960s, the Kurhaus remained a public attraction as a major concert hall, at which many top artists performed.  Ike & Tina Turner performed at the Kurhaus on February 11, 1971. The show was aired on Dutch television VPRO and released

Kasteel Cortewalle is a Flemish moated castle in Beveren in Belgium, which was inhabited for many years by the de Brouchoven de Bergeyck family. History The castle dates from the 15th century and is one of the oldest in the Waasland. It is built in white sandstone, in the style of the Flemish Renaissance . It was expanded by Joos Vijd, who bequeathed it to his cousin Joos Triest.  Joos Vijd & Ghent Altarpiece Vijd was the third son of Clais Vijd and Amelberga van der Elst and was born in the moated castle of Singelberg. His father was a castle guardian and bailiff and moor master of Beveren, but was relieved of these functions in 1390 by Philip the Bold after an investigation into fraud and self-enrichment. The family fortune has its origins in interest on land, peat extraction and dyke tenders in the Waasland.  Around 1392, Joos married Lysbette Borluut, a patrician daughter from Ghent (she is also depicted on one of the panels). The couple lived in a Ghent city house, known as th

In November 2022 there was a lot to do about an article in the French newspaper Le Parisien. It stated that there was a robbery in the appartment of Queen Paola of Belgium in Paris.  Not much later, the newspaper retracted that report and reported that there was "ambiguity about the identity of the owner".  picture taken in November 2022 in Rome After which the spokesman for the royal palace also responded and reported that Queen Paola has no apartment at all in the district where the theft took place.  "The original article of 'Le Parisien' that linked the theft to an apartment of the Queen is therefore incorrect," the palace concluded. However Queen Paola of Belgium and King Albert II of  Belgium have other properties than their Belvédère Castle in Laeken, Brussels.  They would have residences in Châteauneuf-Grasse (France) and in Villers-sur-Lesse (Belgium). But also an apartment in Oostende (Belgium) and an apartment in Rome.  picture taken in November 2

The special Santa Bárbara Castle, high above Alicante on the Costa Blanca in Spain, offers an amazing view towards the city. It also has a rich history.  History On the slopes of the mountain, Bronze Age, Iberian and Roman artifacts have been found however the origins of the castle goes back to the 9th. century  during the Muslim control of the Iberian Peninsula.  On 4 December 1248, the castle was captured by Castilian forces led by Alfonso of Castile. It was named after Saint Barbara, on whose feast day the castle was recaptured from the Arabs.  It was conquered by the Aragonese in 1296 during the reign of James II of Aragon, who ordered its reconstruction. Peter IV of Aragon, Charles I of Spain and Philip II of Spain would oversee further reconstructions. The castle was bombarded in 1691 by a French squadron. During the War of the Spanish Succession, it was held by the British for three years. In 1873, it was bombarded, along with the city, by the cantonalistas from the frigate Numa

The life and travels of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi) always have fascinated me, you can find lots of her travels on this link .  In Austria she felt restless and she always was very keen to be on her way to the most beautiful destinations. Following her footsteps  resulted in a never ending wishlist but from time to time it is a  surprise to visit places where Empress Elisabeth of Austria was before. I must admit: those places are true treasures. One of them is Elche , (also called Elx) in the province of Alicante in Spain. Elche Palm Trees picture taken in October 2022 Empress Elisabeth of Austria Source picture: Wikipedia   In 1894, Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi) arrived at the port of Alicante . Then she traveled further to Elche, where she was shown an amazing garden.  Port of Alicante in Spain, October 2022 The Empress was very impressed when she looked at the palm tree. She suggested to give them her name. (Imperial Palm).  She also visited the The Huerto del Cura . 

Recently, the Allaboutroyalfamilies blog visited The Hague and we had there a lovely city trip very close to The Hofvijver. The Hofvijver - translated court pond - is an amazing beautiful lake in the middle of The Hague in the Netherlands. Hofvijver own picture taken in 2022 The term pond is actually a misnomer, as the Hofvijver has its origin in a natural dune lake fed by the Haagse Beek (Hague Creek, originally Dunecreek) and the, nowadays muted, Bosbeek (Forestcreek) from the Haagse Bos (Hague Forest). The Haagse Beek still feeds the Hofvijver and so the pond is directly connected to the dunes in Kijkduin. In this dune lake there was an island (not the current island in the Hofvijver) on which Willem II built his palace in 1248. Other sources say he built his palace alongside the pond and created a moat around it. The city of The Hague celebrated its 700 years of existence in 1948, suggesting that the city itself bases its origin on the building of the palace by Willem II in 1248.

On 28 August 1913, Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands opened the  Peace Palace in The Hague. own picture taken in 2022 Queen Wilhelmina: Wikipedia The idea of the Palace started from a discussion in 1900 between the Russian diplomat Friedrich Martens and American diplomat White over providing a home for the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). White contacted Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie had reservations, and at first was only interested in donating money for the establishment of a library of international law.  own picture taken in 2022 White, however, was able to convince Carnegie, and in 1903 Carnegie agreed to donate the US$1.5 million ($50,000,000, adjusted for inflation) needed to house the court as well as to endow it with a library of international law. White described his idea to Carnegie: "A temple of peace where the doors are open, in contrast to the Janus-temple, in times of peace and closed in cases of war [...] as a worthy testimony of the people that, after many long