Prince Frederick’s carriages

Nowadays, everyone owns one or more cars. We hop on a train, bus, or plane without a second thought. We consider it perfectly normal to leave home and travel considerable distances. In Prince Frederick’s time, however, this was anything but normal. In fact, ordinary people did everything on foot, and their journeys took forever. Long journeys and leisure trips by carriage were a luxury available only to the wealthy.

In the 19th century, it took a lot of money to own a carriage. A carriage was usually pulled by two horses, driven by a coachman who sat on the perch. A senior groom often held onto the back of the carriage, standing on a footboard. The carriages had to be maintained, the horses needed stabling and feed, and the servants had to be paid. Furthermore, there were often several carriages; Prince Frederick may have had between 15 and 25 carriages. Historians base this assumption on the enormous coach house that belonged to De Paauw, which has room for 15 carriages. 

A different carriage for each purpose

Each carriage had its own function. Luggage was transported in a “kofferbrik” (luggage carriage), while servants traveled in a large omnibus—a long carriage capable of carrying all of them. For leisure trips, the ladies often rode in a Victoria: a half-open carriage with a low step so they wouldn’t trip over their long gowns. And wealthy men traveled in sporty carriages when they went hunting or showed off their driving skills in a Phaeton: a light, open sports carriage that the gentlemen drove themselves, perched on the driver’s seat. Coaches, on the other hand, were enclosed and therefore ideal for longer journeys.

Carriages were subject to fashion trends

Did you know that you can tell which period a carriage comes from by its design? New technological developments made them increasingly comfortable. Furthermore, the exterior of a carriage was influenced by fashion trends. As a result, carriages were regularly replaced with more modern versions, even if the older ones were still perfectly serviceable. Prince Frederik was also often tempted to buy a new carriage. Clearly, the elite back then were not much different from car enthusiasts today!

Loves to travel

The lives of the aristocracy depended on visiting one another. It was a way to conduct business, maintain social contacts, and arrange marriages. In addition, traveling was a way to escape the heat of the city. Prince Frederick enjoyed traveling as well. He easily traveled from his city palace in The Hague to his estates in Wassenaar and Bad Muskau, a location on the Oder River in the region that is now on the German-Polish border. Although roads improved significantly in the 19th century, travel was slow. The carriage could travel at most 10 to 12 kilometers per hour.

A Little Spontaneity

Do you sometimes decide on a whim to take a trip? That was unthinkable in Prince Frederick’s day. Every journey, no matter how short, required considerable preparation: stable boys polished the carriage, brushed the horses, and harnessed them to the carriage. Servants packed the necessary items, and the coachman and senior grooms donned their immaculate uniforms. Trips abroad were also planned in detail by Prince Frederick’s secretary or lord chamberlain (head of the household). Setting out on a journey was therefore a time-consuming undertaking that was always announced well in advance.

Leisure Trips to Impress

At his country estates in Wassenaar, Prince Frederick had a magnificent landscape park built. He enjoyed impressing his guests during leisurely outings with everything the park had to offer: breathtaking views, large winding lakes, stunning vistas, and much more. Paths were specially constructed for the carriages so that guests could admire the park from the carriage window. Would you like to briefly imagine yourself as a nobleman or noblewoman? Then walk or cycle along (parts of) the Parks Route and experience the beauty just as they did back in the 19th century!

Traveling by train

On May 1, 1843, a train station opened in Voorschoten. It was an extension of the Amsterdam–Haarlem–Leiden–The Hague railway line. From the very beginning, Prince Frederick regularly took the train to pay visits. Now he could also travel much faster to see his family in Berlin or to his estate in Bad Muskau. Of course, he did not travel in a train compartment with other passengers. It might be hard to imagine today, but he had his very own compartment, which was attached to the train whenever he traveled. A very luxurious and convenient way to travel indeed! The compartment that Frederick regularly used was built for Queen Anna Pavlovna, the wife of William II, but she died before she could travel in it. You can admire this compartment (a little palace on wheels) at the Railway Museum in Utrecht.