Fraeylemaborg Castle

Fraeylemabor Castle

 

Location: Hoofdweg 30- 32, Slochteren, Groningen   Map

Constructed: 16th century

Tel. 0598 421 568

Open:

Mar- Dec 10am- 5pm Tue- Fri 1pm- 5pm Sat & Sun

 

Description of Fraeylemabor Castle

Fraeylemaborg Castle is a former medieval granary that was turned into a private residence surrounded by over 20 hectares of beautiful park. Fraeylemaborg Castle is situated in a town of Slochteren, Groningen province of Netherlands. Despite its name Fraeylemaborg Castle was never a real castle in military strategic point of view. It was made up of several buildings filled with grain protected by towers against possible robbers.
Fraeylemaborg Castle was turned into a private residence in the 16th century by the Fraeylema family who also gave their house its current name. In the 17th centuries the manor got its left wing and an extensive park that measured over 20 hectares of land. Fraeylemaborg Castle was modelled after French Versailles constructed by Louis XIV of France it contained sculptures, meadows, flowers and other features. Today Fraeylemaborg Castle is open to the public.

 

Origin

Building history research in 2004 showed that the current deposit must have been built before 1300 as a stone house, or a fortified house next to a manor house. In the chronicle of Bloemhof, around 1290, two noble families from this area are mentioned: Snelgera van Scharmer and Haiginga (or Haginga) van Slochteren. The latter name can be associated with the Hoijnga or Heringe clauwe, the neighborhood where the deposit was located. At that time there was a family in Hellum called Frouwamonna. The first certain mention of the Fraeylemaborg dates from around 1400. In the first half of the 15th century, the Fralema heerd van Remet Fraijlumma (with 6 deimt land in dijck medt) and lands intha Fralema waldum, in Fralima waldum, are discussed. or butha Fralumma waldum (owned by Edze Tuwinga in Ten Post), inda Fralema tijucha, in Fraijkema were, in Fralandt, near Frama and in the Frama venne. A large part of these lands were located near the Schildmeer. The aforementioned Remmert Frouwama was one of the representatives of the Slochterzijlvest in 1444; a certain Lummo Fraijlima in Slochteren is mentioned in 1422. The place name Froombosch is perhaps derived from the family name Fraeylema.

The name Fraeylema is probably the Old German first name * Frauja- 'lord', Old Dutch * Fra-, which we find in the gods names Freyr and Freya, here in a (male) diminutive form with the ending -la or -lin. More well-known is the feminine form Frouwa, in the sense of 'distinguished woman, mistress, consort', with the Frisian diminutive form Frauk (e), Old Dutch Frowekin. The first name -ma ('-men, family group') was then linked to this first name. The surname Froma is probably related to this. The linguist Jan Naarding points to the possibility that it may have been the descendants of a frana or schout who would have once exercised authority over Duurswold on behalf of the count. Although the etymology of the word frana as "on behalf of the lord belonging to the lord" gives some reason for this, other researchers have certainly rejected this idea.

It is possible that four brick houses in Slochteren, Ten Post, Godlinze and Losdorp were owned by the same family. The name Fra (e) yl (e) ma, Frouwama or Fraelma occurs in different places in the 15th and 16th centuries:

the Fraaimaheerd farm (Medenweg 5) at Ten Post (kelp game Wittewierum), formerly also known as Frailmaheerd or Fraylemahuis and presumably identical to the Eltken steenhuus offte heer in the hamlet of Oldersum and the stone house to Aldersum, which is mentioned around 1400. The residents of this stone house previously played an important role in public administration and probably descended from a leading family from the mining period
de Lyummenheerd in Siboldeweer (Sybelweer or Sybaldeweer) northwest of Krewerd (belonging to the Sibolda claw in the Godlinze play), named after Lumme Fraeijlema and subsequently owned by Remmert Fraelma (1446) and Remmert Fraylma (1504; possibly grandfather and grandson)
de Fraylemaheerd northeast of the church of Losdorp
de Frouwemaheerd under the Eesterrecht in Eenumerhoogte, until 1499 owned by a certain Popke Herema, who also owned a land in the vicinity of Froombosch
the Frouwama house in Huizinge, mentioned in 1371; it is probably identical with the borg Fraam, formerly also known as Feradema or Fradema. This guarantor also gave its name to the hamlet of Fraamklap or Frowingatil. A certain Rodolphus Frawama is mentioned in 1403
the Framaheerd under Grijssloot near Leens, formerly also called Frademaheerd or Olt Frama, belonged to the same family as the borg Fraam te Huizinge
de Froukemaheerd in Ezinge

 

In 1465 there is again a noble gentleman in Slochteren who is called the Fraeylemaheerd. That year, Ebbe Sluchtinge handed over half of this to Aywet and Duirt Alberda in exchange for lands at Bierum. At the beginning of the 16th century, several members of the Fraylema van Berum family were chieftains in Slochteren, including Remmert Fraylma. It is unclear whether the Lumme Fraelmaheerd mentioned in 1504 as the Remmert Fraylma property is the same as the Lyummenheerd in Siboldeweer or whether it concerns the Fraeylemaborg in Slochteren. In any case, the Fraeylemaborg in the 16th century is in the hands of this Fraylma family. But not always: In 1500, when the Gelderse Wars raged, Fraeylema was occupied by the city residents for a while. In 1505, Count Edzard I of East Frisia had a log house built on the east side of the church near the stone house. These actions were related to the strategic importance of the location in Duurswold on the road from the city of Groningen to Appingedam, the two Oldambts and the German countries (in particular Westphalia).

In between, the aforementioned Remmert Fraylma was the chieftain of Slochteren in 1504. He is also mentioned later, until 1527. In 1538 his son Oesebrandt is mentioned as chief. He also owned three people in Bierum. He was last mentioned in 1540. His daughter married Seino Rengers, so that half of the deposit came to the Rengers family through inheritance. They bought the other half for 550 Emder guilders.

1548 - 1690
Seino’s great-grandson Osebrandt Johan Rengers was a powerful squire in the Ommelanden in the early seventeenth century. Accused of treason during the Siege of Groningen, he came to jail. A son-in-law of Rengers, Henric Piccardt, achieved a reconciliation through Willem III of Orange. Rengers was restored to its former glory but died soon after. His son died in 1681 or 1682, after which the surety transferred to his brother Evert. Mr Henric Piccardt, who was married to Osebrandt's daughter Anna Elisabeth in 1680, became the guardian of Evert. Because Evert had to sell his assets in 1690 due to debts, Piccardt bought the deposit with annexes and lands for 47,000 guilders. He had borrowed money for this from the king-stadholder in the form of a mortgage on the Fraeylemaborg.

1690 - 1781
Financial difficulties forced the Piccardt family to sell the Fraeylemaborg in 1781. The buyer of the more than 30 years neglected deposit was Mr. Hendrik de Sandra Veldtman. It was the first time in the history of the guarantor that it was sold outside the family. The Sandra Veldtman was an active member of the Lodge L'Union Provinciale and was strongly addressed by Freemasonry Symbolism. He had the garden adjusted and applied various freemason symbols; among other things, paths were laid in the form of a compass and a square.

1781 - 1972
After the death of his first wife, De Sandra Veldtman was remarried in 1786 to the widow of Arnhem mayor Jan Nanning van der Hoop, Adelgonda Christine Wolthers. Together they had a daughter in 1789, Hermanna Louise Christina. In 1816 she inherited the Fraeylemaborg from her father. After the death of her husband, Mr. Johan Hora Siccama in 1829, she remarried in 1831 with his cousin, Mr. Wiardus Hora Siccama. After her death her husband remained a usufructuary on the estate. After his death in 1867, the Fraeylemaborg inherited by the will of Hermanna Louise Christina on the grandson of her step-brother Abraham Johan van der Hoop, Abraham Johan Thomassen à Thuessink van der Hoop. He then added van Slochteren to his name. His oldest son Evert Jan, born in 1875, inherited the borg in 1882. In 1908 he married Catharina Cornelia Star Numan. They had two children, Jeanne Agatha and Geertruida Hermanna Louisa Christina. In 1952 Evert Jan died, who was also mayor of Slochteren from 1925 to 1940. After Mrs. Van der Hoop's death in 1965, her two daughters lived in the surety for a few years. The financial burdens, however, became too heavy and in 1971 the rich furniture was auctioned and on January 9, 1972 the deposit with the forest was sold to the Gerrit van Houten Foundation.

 

Last resident
The last offspring of the genus inhabiting the Fraeylemaborg, Louise Thomassen à Thuessink van der Hoop van Slochteren, Douarière Jonkheer François van Panhuys, died on 9 July 2008. She was 92 years old. She was called the "last" real "bailiff of Groningen". With her death, the era of the landed gentry in Groningen symbolically ended. The Thomassen à Thuessink van der Hoop van Slochteren family does not belong to the Dutch nobility. The family does belong to the patriciate (non-noble generations who had a great reputation in society for generations). Together with her three daughters and her sister Jeanne, who died in 2002, Louise van der Hoop was the last to inhabit the Fraeylemaborg in a grand state. She was buried in the cemetery of the church of Slochteren.

Gerrit van Houten Foundation
The deposit is furnished with period rooms that give an impression of the living atmosphere until the middle of the 20th century. In this way, a personal addition is given to the era of the Menkemaborg (18th century) and borg Verhildersum (19th century). The core collection of the Fraeylemaborg is from the Gerrit van Houten Foundation, which also permanently displays artworks from Gerrit van Houten (1866-1934). The Fraeylemaborg also houses the collection of the Jan Menze van Diepen Foundation, with Asian ceramics, Oranje-Nassau prints, paintings and topographical maps. The collection of the Van der Wijck-de Kempenaer Foundation is also kept here. Temporary exhibitions are held in the Coach House. As a museum, the deposit is open throughout the year.

The Slochterbos
Behind the borg is a park of approximately 20 hectares, which is also called the Slochterbos.

Around 1700 the park was imitated with the fashion of the time with the example of the Palace of Versailles decorating the garden and the forest according to mathematical figures. See-throughs found a haven in statues and vases. The central avenue of oak and beech with a length of 1165 meters remains, which is oriented to the axis of the house. An oblique axis of sight has also been preserved. If you are standing in the extension of the main hall, you can see to the rear up to the statue of Flora at the end of the middle avenue and to the front along the driveway 1000 meters to the end of the avenue through the over forest on the other side of the Hoofdweg, the new provincial road and the port. From 1785 the park was transformed into a romantic park in the English landscape style. Winding paths were laid, irregularly shaped ponds were dug and a mountain was made with the soil that was released. For the middle part of the elongated park, landscape architect Johan David Zocher made Sr. a design, dated 1802. The rear part of the park was designed by Georg Anton Blum, of whom two design drawings have been preserved. This phase was realized before 1821. Around 1840, Lucas Pieters Roodbaard made a plan for the rear part of the park, to which an extension had been added at that time. Little can be found of this plan drawing in the current situation. The pride of the forest was a very old beech tree, the Dikke Boom, which was six meters in size and was blown over in 1963.

Trivia
Fraijlemaborg is a street name in Amsterdam-Zuidoost