De Kleefse reis van Jan Jacob Brants

John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen was stadtholder of the German city of Kleve from 1647 onwards. He created his own paradise there and during the following centuries many Dutch travellers found their way to this city just across the border. Kleve (Kleef in Dutch) was also the destination for Jan Jacob Brants and his fellow travellers in or around 1790. The record of their trip (and the route taken) comes in the form of an overview of costs incurred. It raises the question whether Brants deliberately visited some gardens created by the architect he himself had employed just before he went on this trip. Johan Georg Michael had created gardens and parks closer to home, but Brants possibly wanted to see the ones further afield?

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Summary

John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen was stadtholder of the German city of Kleve from 1647 onwards. He created his own paradise there and during the following centuries many Dutch travellers found their way to this city just across the border. Kleve (Kleef in Dutch) was also the destination for Jan Jacob Brants and his fellow travellers in or around 1790. The record of their trip (and the route taken) comes in the form of an overview of costs incurred. It raises the question whether Brants deliberately visited some gardens created by the architect he himself had employed just before he went on this trip. Johan Georg Michael had created gardens and parks closer to home, but Brants possibly wanted to see the ones further afield?

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Mixed planting in 18th century avenues

Interesting information has come to my attention in the last few months, and of course it has some bearing on the garden of Beeckestijn: avenues lined with two types of trees. On the Beeckestijn map (1772) we see such an avenue in the continuation of the central axis at the…

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