The castle that was given to the town
Transcript
The castle next to this market is one of the best preserved moated castles in the Netherlands, and it belongs to the people of Helmond because three women gave it to them.
Building started around 1325, replacing an older stronghold a few hundred metres to the west. Originally it had two rings of moats. Only the inner one survives, the water you see around the walls today. For six hundred years the castle passed between noble families: the Van Berlaers, the Van Cortenbachs from 1433, the Arbergs, and in 1781 a mint master called Carel Frederik Wesselman. In 1549 a fire badly damaged the west wing and the roofs, but the castle survived.
Then, in 1921, the widow of the last lord of Helmond and her two daughters handed the castle over to the town, on one condition: it had to be used by and for the public. In 1923, after a big renovation, it became Helmond's town hall. For decades, people came here to register births and get married.
When the town outgrew it in the 1970s, the council moved out, and in 1982 the castle became Museum Helmond.
So as you walk around the stalls on the Markt, look across the moat. That castle was not conquered, and it was not sold. It was given away, so that everyone could walk in.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
