Willem van Oranje

The equestrian statue in front of Noordeinde Palace shows Willem van Oranje, born in Dillenburg in 1533 and raised at the court in Brussels. He was Catholic, politically able, and for years a loyal servant of the Spanish crown.

That changed as Philip the Second tightened his grip on the Low Countries and stepped up the persecution of Protestants. In 1564 Willem told the Council of State that no ruler holds authority over what his subjects believe in private. Philip ignored him, which turned out to matter.

From then on Willem supplied the Dutch revolt with what it lacked: money, alliances between quarrelling provinces, and an argument that rulers answer to something beyond themselves. Philip put a price on his head. In 1584 Balthasar Gerards shot him in Delft.

His descendants still live behind this palace, and the national anthem is written in his voice, which leaves the Netherlands with one of the few anthems sung from the point of view of a dead nobleman.