A special discovery for Castle de Haar. A feudal register considered missing for decades was recently found. Today, the finder handed over the feudal register, a fist-thick volume with a parchment cover, to the curator of De Haar Castle. The register, no. 92 from the Archives of De Haar is a 1610 transcript of feudal letters from the period 1440 - 1512. The document will be added to the collection of the Haar feudal register which is now in Het Utrechts Archief.

The Missing

The archives of De Haar were inventoried and indexed by Jkvr. Van Asch van Wijk in 1959. Register No. 92 was still in the castle at the time. In 1992, two archival researchers who had gained access to the Haar papers noted that the no. in question was missing. In 2003, it was decided to transfer the archive to the Utrecht Archive in order to ensure the condition and security of the records as best as possible. During this transfer, the missing item was again identified. 

Discovery

This year, a regular reading room visitor to the Utrecht Archive, Denis Verhoef, was given custody of a collection of documents from the estate of a researcher friend. Mr. Verhoef discovered that it contained the missing fief register. After consulting with the heirs, it was decided to return the register to De Haar.

Festive handover

Today curator Katrien Timmers was delighted to receive the bundle of loan letters from Mr. Verhoef. Somewhat symbolically, because the fragile centuries-old material moves directly to the Utrecht Archive where it will be well preserved, but more importantly, can be consulted again.

 For additional information and/or photos, please contact Castle de Haar at marketing@kasteeldehaar.nl.