Prince Frederick’s carriages

Nowadays, everybody has one or more cars. We get on a train, bus or plane without a second thought. We find it quite normal to leave home and travel considerable distances. In the time of Prince Frederick, however, this was anything but normal. Indeed, common people did everything on foot and their journeys took forever. Long journeys and pleasure trips with a carriage were a luxury that only the wealthy had access to.

In the 19th century, you needed a lot of cash to own a carriage. A carriage was usually pulled by two horses, which were driven by a coachman who sat on the perch. A senior groom often held on to the back of the coach, standing on a footboard. The carriages had to be maintained, horses needed accommodation and feed, and servants had to be paid for. Furthermore, there were often several carriages; Prince Frederick possibly had between 15 and 25 carriages. Historians assume this on the basis of 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. Cases were transported in a “kofferbrik”(luggage carriage), servants travelled in a large omnibus, a long carriage that could transport all of them. For a leisure trip, the ladies often got into a Victoria: a half-open carriage with a low instep so that they would not trip over their long gowns. And affluent men travelled in sportive carriages when they went hunting or they demonstrated their horse driving powers on a Phaeton: a light, open sporting carriage which the gentlemen steered themselves, perched on the driver’s seat. Coaches, on the other hand, were closed and therefore ideal for longer journeys.

Carriages were subject to fashion

Did you know that you can tell which period a carriage comes from by its build? New technological developments ensured that they became more and more comfortable. Furthermore, the outside of a carriage was subject to fashion. Carriages were therefore regularly replaced by a more modern version, even if the older carriages were still quite usable. Prince Frederik was also often tempted to buy a new carriage. Clearly, the elite back then differed little from car lovers these days!

Fond of travelling

The life of the aristocracy depended on visiting each other. It was a way of doing business, maintaining social contacts and arranging marriages. In addition, travelling was a way to escape the heat of the city. Prince Frederick enjoyed travelling too. He easily travelled from his city Palace in The Hague to his estates in Wassenaar and Bad Muskau, a location on the river Oder in the current German-Polish border region. Although the roads became increasingly better in the 19th century, travel was slow. The carriage could cover at most 10 to 12 kilometres per hour.

Little spontaneity

Do you sometimes spontaneously decide to take a trip? That was inconceivable in the time of Prince Frederick. Every journey, however short, required a considerable preparation: stable boys polished the carriage, brushed the horses and harnessed them to the carriage. Servants packed the items required and the driver and senior grooms dressed in their immaculate uniforms. Foreign trips were also planned in detail by the secretary or lord chamberlain (head of the household) of Prince Frederick. Setting out on a journey was therefore a time-consuming business that was always announced well in advance.

Pleasure trips to impress

At his country estates in Wassenaar, Prince Frederick had a fantastic landscape park built. He liked to impress his guests during a pleasure trip with everything the park had to offer: amazing views, large winding lakes, exciting vistas and a whole lot more. Paths were especially constructed for the carriages so that guests could admire the park from the carriage window. Would you like to briefly imagine yourself a nobleman or noblewoman? Then walk or cycle along (parts of) the Parks Route and experience the beauty just like they did back in the 19th century!

Journeying by train

On 1 May 1843, a train station was opened in Voorschoten. It was an extension of the railway line Amsterdam-Haarlem-Leiden-The Hague. From the outset, Prince Frederick regularly used the train to make visits. Now he could also travel much faster to his family in Berlin or to his estate Bad Muskau. Of course, he did not travel in a train compartment with other travellers. It might be difficult to imagine that now, but he had his very own compartment, which was attached to a train when he travelled. A very luxurious and convenient way of travelling 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.