Doorn

Doorn is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. On 1 January 2008 the town had 10,052 inhabitants.

History

In a document from the period 885-896 the settlement is called "Thorhem", dwelling of Thor, the God of Thunder. Vikings quartered at Dorestad (now Wijk bij Duurstede), called the place Thorhem because reputedly the God of Thunder was worshipped there. Indeed archeological diggings in a moor on the estate of Hoog Moersbergen, north of Doorn, prove there was a pagan sacrificial site.

At the time the settlement of Thorhem belonged to the homestead of Villa Thorhem. Around 1200 this homestead was in the possession of a provost of the Bishopric of Utrecht. He or one of his successors had a castle built in the 14th Century, now Huis Doorn, and a church called the Maartenskerk ("St. Martin's Church") around 1200. The church was extended in the 15th Century. It fell into Protestant hands around 1585 and is still in use as a Protestant church. Another castle, "Kasteel Moersbergen" was first mentioned in 1435 and has been altered several times since the 17th Century.