Every design for Hattem

Around the year 800, a record from the abbey of Lorsch mentioned two farmsteads at a place called Hat-Heim. That settlement became Hattem, a small Hanseatic town on the northern edge of the Veluwe, close to the IJssel and right on the border between Gelderland and Overijssel.

What makes Hattem unusual is how much history it packs into so little space. It was one of nine Dutch members of the Hanseatic League, it once had a castle known as the Dikke Tinne for walls said to be the thickest in the country, and it was a hotbed of the Patriot movement under Herman Willem Daendels. The Dijkpoort, restored with four little turrets by Cuypers, still welcomes you into the centre, where the Anton Pieck Museum, the Voerman Museum Hatten and the Bakkerijmuseum sit among cosy terraces.

Step outside the walls and the woods begin: Landgoed Molecaten and the Trijselenberg are a short walk or ride away. If this is your town, you will know exactly which path you would take first.