Kurhaus ‘t Huis ter `geul designer by Pierre Cuypers in 1890 photo Public Domain Wikimedia
Hotel ‘t Huis ter Geul was designed in 1890 by architect Pierre Cuypers and was built as a spa hotel by the N.V. Maatschappij to operate a rest and convalescent home.
It was a beautifully located hotel and attracted mainly wealthy customers.
There were 50 luxurious rooms, steam baths, a dining room, a music hall and, unusually for that time, its own electricity supply. The existing health resorts in Germany served as an example.
People with various conditions could go here for treatment.
The Kurhaus was put into use in 1892.
In the spring of 1895 it was announced that the then 14-year-old Queen Wilhelmina and her mother Queen Regent Emma would visit Valkenburg and would stay at ‘t Huis ter Geul.
All of Limburg and Valkenburg in particular were happy with this high-quality visit and the Valkenburg municipal council decided that an unspecified amount would be given to organize the festivities surrounding this royal visit.
We recently came into possession of a small porcelain plate that was made as a souvenir of this Royal visit to ‘t Huis ter Geul. The Kurhaus may have had this made so that visitors to the Hotel could buy it as a souvenir.
The plate is 12.5 cm in diameter and was made in Germany by the Krumm company from Crefeld.
A few years later, this porcelain factory would also produce various souvenirs on the occasion of the inauguration of Queen Wilhelmina in 1898.
However, the Kurhaus was not a success and in the early 1900s it became a grand hotel and in 1911 it became a monastery.
In 1939 the fathers left and the building became Parkhotel Rooding and after various renovations etc. it is now Parkhotel Valkenburg.
Info: Wikipedia & parkhotelvalkenburg.nl
