This Baroque castle was the scene of one of the most famous lines in Dutch royal history. King William III of the Netherlands arrived here on 28 July 1878 to court Pauline of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Pauline rejected the elderly King but her sister Emma supposed exclaimed, “We cannot just let the poor man go home alone!”
And so, on 7 January 1879 Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont married King William III in the chapel in Arolsen Palace. Their marriage produced one daughter, the future Queen Wilhelmina.
Schloss Pyrmont was the family’s summer residence. During the Second World War it was a military hospital and after the war it became the seat of the British Red Cross until 1948. It was sold by the family in 1956 to the state. It was renovated twice, first in 1960-1962 and then in 1978. It is currently an art museum and there is no trace of its former inhabitants inside the schloss. Surprisingly, the shop did have some (german) books on German royals.
You can visit the museum for only €3 but you won’t find any trace of Emma or of her family.
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