Kasteel Almere: An Unfinished Castle and Contemporary Ruin
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Netherlands
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- Dutch
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Castle
On this page5 sections
History
Planning and construction
Kasteel Almere is an unfinished castle in Almere, Netherlands, designed as a wedding venue and based on the thirteenth-century Jemeppe Castle in Hargimont, Belgium. Plans date from 1999 and were intended to provide Almere with a better wedding location. The project was promoted by Cees van Bemmel, an Almere alderman who belonged to the VVD, a Dutch liberal political party.
Construction began in 2000, when the first pile was driven on 15 September. The initial estimate was 60 million Dutch guilders, the Netherlands’ currency before the euro entered everyday use in 2002. This amounted to more than 27 million euros, and the projected cost later rose to 120 million guilders. Financial problems brought the work to a halt in 2002, leaving the castle incomplete. Its unfinished state subsequently became part of its identity as a contemporary ruin, meaning a modern structure whose abandoned or incomplete condition shapes its present appearance.
Later development proposals
Gravin BV acquired the project in 2005. The company had been established for this purpose and proposed creating a hotel and wedding venue in the castle, together with houses on the surrounding land. The housing proposal required a change to the zoning plan, a municipal planning instrument governing permitted buildings and land uses. Almere’s municipal council rejected that change in 2008.
From 2013, proposals were developed for WitchWorld, an amusement park planned for the castle and its surroundings. In October 2015, WitchWorld took an option to purchase the castle from Gravin BV for 20 million euros. The agreement included an escape clause if the amusement-park plans proved financially or politically unworkable. Financing was not secured, so the purchase did not proceed. The promoters received extra time to arrange funding in November 2016, but the WitchWorld project was abandoned in October 2018.
Legend and contemporary interpretation
A local legend gives a different explanation for the interruption of the project. It claims that malevolent spirits in the unfinished castle killed construction workers and that the work stopped in 2008. The documented construction halt occurred in 2002 because of financial problems, while the legend reflects the later folklore surrounding the incomplete building.
Remains
Kasteel Almere survives as an incomplete castle structure at Almere Haven on the Oude Waterlandseweg. Its design draws on Jemeppe Castle, a thirteenth-century castle in Belgium, while the unfinished construction gives the modern building its contemporary-ruin character. The tower forms a prominent surviving element and can be seen from the A6 motorway. In 2021, the artists’ collective Kamp Seedorf created an artwork based on the tower at the request of the municipality of Almere.
Nearby sites
