Kasteel van Breda

Kasteel van Breda was once the ancestral home of the Nassaus, the ancestors of our royal family. Because of the important international role of the Nassaus, the Castle was an important place in Europe during the 15th to 17th centuries.

A long history
Kasteel van Breda has a long history. A castle stood on the site of the current castle as early as 1198. The castle came into the hand of the Nassaus in the early 15th century through the marriage of German count Engelbrecht van Nassau to Breda’s Johanna van Polanen.

The castle has been demolished and built almost continuously over the centuries.

From Renaissance Palace to KMA
In the 16th century, County Henry III of Nassau had the castle rigorously rebuilt into a Renaissance palace. For this, he brought Thomas Vincidor de Bologna, a pupil of Rafael, to Breda. With the arrival of the Royal Military Academy in 1826, the castle was again downsized and many of the Renaissance ornaments disappeared.