Holiday at the SS school

Together with my wife, I went cycling in the Veluwezoom. We stayed in the charming village of Ellecom and cycled to Dieren, Doesburg, and the village of De Steeg. I don't immediately consider 'De Steeg' a name for a village, but I did find a postage stamp with this name on it. Ellecom We stayed in Ellecom at the Avegoor estate in a Fletcher hotel. I wanted to know a bit more about this estate and discovered that during the Second World War, this building was used as a training institute for the Dutch SS and also as a labor camp for Dutch Jews. It was called 'The Hell of Ellecom' at the time. Heinrich Himmler gave a speech there. Fortunately, we live in different times now, and we enjoyed a fine stay at this hotel.

Dieren The first village we cycled to was Dieren. It was funny to encounter 'the animal'—the Scottish Highland cow—on the cycle path. Ringing the bicycle bell was useless. The cow was hot and didn't move a muscle. We just cycled past cautiously. Fortunately, we didn't come across any wolves there.

There wasn't much to do in Dieren. The only thing that stuck with me is that we passed by the Gazelle headquarters. This Dutch bicycle manufacturer, founded in 1892, has been allowed to call itself 'Royal Gazelle' since 1992. In 1892, Willem Kölling, a PTT civil servant, established a bicycle business by importing a single bicycle from England. The company now produces over 350.000 bicycles per year, making it the market leader in the Netherlands. Letters are sent in envelopes with the franking machine stamp shown below, featuring the beautiful Gazelle logo.

Doesburg Doesburg is a charming old town with beautiful sights. Two beautiful churches, a magnificent 16th-century Weigh House, and a lovely old Town Hall. I therefore find it fitting that Doesburg has received philatelic attention by issuing a so-called Berlage postcard featuring a cityscape of Doesburg.

The alley And finally, we visited De Steeg, a small village with 1100 inhabitants. This village held a pleasant surprise, as Middachten Castle stands on an estate there. Unfortunately, it was closed, and we could only view the beautiful garden through the bars of a large gate. Luckily, we still have the stamps, as PostNL has issued two 'Mooi Nederland' stamps and a stamp sheet featuring this beautiful castle. They are pictured below. [/one_half] [one_half_last]

[/ One_half_last] Midday The Middachten estate is first mentioned in 1190. Middachten Castle is of medieval origin, but was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt in a modified form. The oldest parts of the structure date back to 1354, when Hendrik van Middachten had a square keep built surrounded by a moat. The castle acquired its current form during a major renovation and enlargement in 1698. Subsequently, the construction of the garden began. The Gardens of Versailles served as the inspiration for this. At the end of the 18th century, the English landscape garden came into fashion, and the Middachten garden was adapted to this trend on a limited scale. Hedges disappeared, and rolling lawns and groups of trees were planted. We could not walk through it, but even from behind the gate, it was a beautiful sight.

  Source: the images of the franking machine stamp and the postcard come from https://topicalcovers.com