Sterkenburg

The oldest mention of Sterkenburg dates back to 1261, when it was determined that Count Otto II of Guelders would receive the "castrum Langebruch" (or castle in the Langbroek) from the Utrecht bishop Hendrik van Vianden . Sterkenburg Castle would remain a fief of Guelders for many centuries, the lands were on loan to the bishop.

The first lords of Sterkenburg came from the illustrious house of the lords of Wulven, a powerful Stichtse family to which many knight's court towns in the area owe their origins, such as Hindersteyn, Nederhorst, Wulverhorst, Amelisweerd and Heemstede.

The Van Sterkenburg family became extinct in the fifteenth century with Catharina van Sterkenburg, who received from her father Gijsbrecht "dat huys ende herlicheyt tot Sterckenborgh met sijner hofstat" when she married Wouter van Isendoorn in 1456 . Their great-granddaughter Mechteld van Isendoorn married the Gelderland nobleman Reinier van Aeswijn (1544-1620) in 1564. In 1536, Sterkenburg Castle was recognized as a knight's court town.

In 1959 Sterkenburg became undivided property of the Kneppelhout heirs, including Anna Rutheria Steengracht van Oostcapelle-Kneppelhout (1898-1966) and her children. From 1970 the entire estate was in the hands of the Steengracht family. From 1948 Sterkenburg had served as a boarding school, educational institute (Stichting Jeugdland) and conference centre.

In 1666 his posthumously born daughter Antonetta van Aeswijn (1647-1669), heiress of Sterkenburg, married Gijsbrecht van Mathenesse (1645-1670). After some inheritance troubles and more premature deaths, Sterkenburg finally came into the hands of Florentina van Mathenesse (1663-1729), married to Johan baron van Hardenbroek, in 1681. She sold the knight's court town and lordship of Sterkenburg in 1725 to Catharina van Heusden, for the benefit of her son Jan Frederik Mamuchet van Houdringe (1692-1740).

Johanna Catharina Mamuchet van Houdringe (1690-1772), who had married Mr Jan Jacob van Westrenen (1685-1769) in 1709, inherited Sterkenburg from her unmarried brother in 1740, after which it would remain in the possession of this Utrecht regent family until the nineteenth century.

After the death of Mr Jan Jacob van Westrenen van Sterkenburg (1802-1827), who died unmarried in Florence, Sterkenburg was bought from his estate in 1829 by his half-sister Anna Maria Cornelia van Westrenen (1782-1856) and her husband Pieter Anthony Hinlópen (1780-1849).

From 1841 they leased Sterkenburg to the widow Johanna Maria Kneppelhout-de Gijselaar (1787-1851). Her son Mr Karel Jan Frederik Cornelius (Kees) Kneppelhout (1818-1885) bought Sterkenburg in 1848 from the Hinlopen couple. Kneppelhout had the house extensively renovated in the same year, giving the castle its current appearance. Until the end of the 1920s Sterkenburg would still be inhabited by the Kneppelhout family.

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