Manor and estate Eerde - Ommen

In ancient times, these surroundings already had great appeal for people. Think of the noblemen who built fortified residences in these regions, the manor houses. Sometimes they were entire castles, complete with towers and cloisters. Overijssel had about a hundred and twenty of them in the seventeenth century, about half of them in Salland. Owning such a manor entitled the nobleman in question to a vote in the administration of the 'Oversticht', as the present province of Overijssel was called for centuries. Over time, some owners became impoverished, uprisings and sieges took place, and eventually the maintenance of most of the manors was simply too expensive.

The first address during the punitive expedition of the Bishop of Utrecht's army was that of Evert van Essen, occupant of the castle on Eerde estate. This robber baron thought himself lord and master of the Regge region and by far the most complaints that came in were about him. The house was besieged and cannons flew around. But the castle withstood all the violence. After five weeks of battle, a deal was struck with van Essen. The robber knight was a good negotiator. He received compensation to leave the castle and was allowed to demolish everything from the house he still wanted to keep. But the order to destroy the castle was carried out. According to eyewitnesses, the fire in the castle raged for a month.

Afterwards, the estate passed into various hands. The current castle and estate were shaped by the van Pallandt family.

Eerde House has withstood the turmoil of time and history and now serves as an international school. In the twentieth century, the house and estate received a bit of everything, from gatherings around an Eastern sage some 100 years ago to a penal camp in World War II. Perhaps it would be useful to muse quietly about a period in history that we can think of as simple and uncluttered. Like the time of the hunter of Eerde, who roamed the forests with his hunting horn and pack of hounds. Whether life during the system of landlords and their subordinates was equally pleasant for everyone, we will leave aside.