page_title: Duitse Huis
section_title: Buildings
hierarchical_section_title: Duitse Huis / Buildings
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Duitse Huis: INT. HOOFDGEBOUW, BEGANE GROND This is an image of rijksmonument number 36110
context_page_description: The Duitse Huis is a complex of buildings in the city of Utrecht, Netherlands, protected as a national monument.
  The older parts date to a monastery of the Bailiwick of Utrecht of the Teutonic Knights founded in 1348.
  Originally Catholic, the order became Protestant during the Reformation.
  A military hospital was added in 1823 after the knights had sold the property.
  The property was sold back to the Bailiwick of Utrecht and a major renovation started in 1992.
  Some of the older buildings are again the headquarters of the Bailiwick of Utrecht, now a charity, and hold an important collection of medieval manuscripts, coins and pictures.
  Other buildings, including the former hospital, have been converted into a five-star hotel, the Grand Hotel Karel V.
context_section_description: From 17th century drawings it appears that the church was a large building, standing high over its surroundings. 
  Most of the land commanders of the order were buried there, as were prominent citizens of Utrecht. 
  One bay has survived, just over 5.5 metres (18 ft) wide. There were probably seven or eight such bays, and perhaps a small transept.
  The main building contained the chapter room and the refectory, sometimes called the "Queens room", where the knights ate.
  Many dignitaries were entertained with elaborate feasts in the refectory.
  The commander's house, at right angles to the main building, was closed to the public. 
  The commander's room was on the west side of the first floor, and there were two smaller reception rooms to the east of this floor.
  The chapter room was renovated in the second half of the 16th century.
  The work was probably done between 1550 and 1580 to accommodate growing numbers of visiting dignitaries, but may have been undertaken after 1580 due to the ban on public Catholic worship, or in preparation for the 1586 visit by the Calvinist governor-general of the United Provinces, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester.
  The joists above the hall were raised and new corbels were put in. The former Gothic windows were raised and converted to bay windows. The wall posts were moved to give a symmetrical layout with a stone mantelpiece in the center of the north wall. From that date the walls may have been hung with tapestries.
  In 1674 the monastery was badly damaged by a windstorm. The church was ruined, and it was demolished.
  The sacristy, main building, kitchen with outbuildings and Commander's house remained standing.
  The "knights room" in the commander's house was used as a replacement church.
  In 1700 the 14th-century facade was truncated.
caption: Main building, ground floor, in 1991 before recent renovations
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