Nederland - Molenhoek, Jachtslot Mookerheide

Jachtslot Mookerheide (Hunting lodge Mookerheide) was commissioned by the wealthy Nijmegen banker Jan J. Luden van Heumen and designed on the highest point of the Mookerheide estate. The lodge was designed by two architects from Nijmegen in a very richly and exuberantly decorated Jugendstil style.

In June 1940, the Germans seized this beautiful hunting lodge and turned it into the country retreat for the feared Waffen SS. Himmler himself is said to have visited on a couple of occasions. In September 1944, the hunting lodge and its estate were taken over by the Americans as a temporary prisoner-of-war camp.

For 30 years, the main building was a hotel-restaurant. In 1985 Jachtslot Mookerheide and the estate are owned by Natuurmonumenten (a society for preservation of nature monuments in the Netherlands) and recently have been restored. Since 2001 it is designated a protected national Dutch monument.