This cute little park sits about an hour's drive to the east of Amsterdam. It
traces its origins back to the House of Orange-Nassau, the current reigning house of the Netherlands. The
Het Loo Palace, or Paleis Het Loo in Dutch, was built in Apeldoorn in the 1680s. The palace and the huge areas of
gardens surrounding it were the summer residence of the House of Orange-Nassau until Queen Wilhelmina passed
away there in 1962. At that point, the palace passed to the Dutch state. It has been a state museum
since the 1980s.
Queen Wilhelmina reigned from 1890 to 1948. She gave birth to Juliana in 1909, and Juliana was
Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 to 1980. Juliana passed away in 2004, but this amusement park built for children
bears her name. In 1910, the Princess Juliana Tower, or Prinses Juliana Toren in Dutch, was built to honor the new
princess. The tower is now called Juliana Tower, or Julianatoren in Dutch, and it still stands in the amusement park. The park
was called Koningin Juliana Toren, or Queen Juliana Tower until 2013. One coaster has been removed from the Julianatoren:
Lieveheersbeestjes, or Lady Bugs, was a small kiddie coaster that was here for
several years until the early 1990s.
