Nieuw-Loosdrecht: Cultural History and Nature

Nieuw-Loosdrecht combines architectural and commemorative history with opportunities to enjoy nature and water in the wider area. If you are looking for hotels in Nieuw-Loosdrecht, it helps to choose local cultural sites and regional activities based on your travel interests: Sijpekerk, Kasteel Sypesteyn and memorial sites sit alongside canoe routes, lakes and landscapes in the surrounding area.

Church, Castle and Landscape

Sijpekerk was built sometime between around 1400 and 1450, replacing a smaller chapel. Its church treasures include three copper crowns, an old oak pulpit, the Belleman, two memorial shields from 1725 and an old baptismal font. This font is already mentioned in the founding document of 1400. The treasures can be viewed during an open day. The church and the document thus point to different dates: the present church was built sometime between around 1400 and 1450, while the baptismal font already appears in the founding document.

Kasteel Sypesteyn is located on Nieuw-Loosdrechtsedijk. Kasteel Museum Sypesteyn displays portraits of Henri’s ancestors spanning four centuries, as well as a large porcelain collection featuring much Loosdrecht porcelain. In early spring, 35 species of stinzen plants bloom at Sypesteyn; the exact flowering time can vary from year to year. Nieuw-Loosdrechtsedijk also tells the story of the landscape: it forms part of the dike around Loosdrecht’s star-shaped drainage landscape, known as Het Stergebied, and is still there today.

Memorial Sites and Their Stories

The Joods monument commemorates 23 Jewish children and their leaders from Jeugdalijah Loosdrecht who died in the resistance or in concentration camps during the Second World War. The horizontal memorial slab, made of white natural stone, bears a Star of David and was unveiled on 11 August 1987. The sixth stage of the Westerborkpad passes the Jeugdalijah memorial.

The war memorial in Nieuw-Loosdrecht is a stone sculpture depicting a dying male figure with a dove on his right arm. It commemorates residents who lost their lives as a result of the war during the occupation. In particular, it remembers ten people who were shot by the occupying forces on 20 March 1945, 50 metres from the memorial.

Another memorial site is the steel artwork Gedeeld verleden, also called Masa lalu bersama. It consists of ten plaques and fifteen vertical rods of varying heights. The artwork commemorates Moluccan marines who fell victim to acts of war, and the history of many Moluccans: their journey to the Netherlands, the impossibility of returning and the struggle to build a home. The memorial sites differ in form: a horizontal slab, a figurative stone sculpture and a multi-part steel artwork.

Nature and Routes in the Wider Area

The Loosdrechtse Plassen combine water sports with peaceful nature; there are also opportunities for walking, cycling and canoeing. In the Vuntus, a 4.8-kilometre canoe route winds through a network of lakes, ditches, meadows, reed beds and swamp forests. Water and access conditions can vary seasonally. Check these conditions before your trip if you plan to follow the route.

The Doortraproute Loosdrecht runs through Nieuw-Loosdrecht and across the countryside and heathland of the rural surroundings. The Hoorneboegse Heide is a nature area in the wider region. This gives you different options when planning your trip: a canoe route through a variety of landscape features, or a route through Nieuw-Loosdrecht and the surrounding countryside.

Ice Skating When Natural Ice Conditions Are Suitable

De Lange Akker is a natural ice rink on Nieuw-Loosdrechtsedijk, opposite number 195. Whether skating is possible there depends on suitable natural ice. Once payment has been made, club members have access to De Lange Akker and to the natural ice rinks on the Loosdrechtse Plassen maintained by the club. Membership and access rules may change; check them directly with the club before planning a skating trip.

Discover more destinations: Loosdrecht, Ankeveen, Breukeleveen, Oud-Loosdrecht, Nederhorst Den Berg, Kortenhoef, ’S-Graveland.

For the main travel overview: Wijdemeren.