Ever since the beginning of the 20th century, the Van Zuylen van Nijevelt-de Rothschild family moved into the castle every September and invited a changing stream of guests. Members of royal families and European nobility, bankers, movie stars and politicians stayed at De Haar for shorter or longer periods of time. In high circles such as these, of course, it applied that one behaved according to etiquette.

Secure and appropriate distance from staff

Not only guests, but also dozens of staff members came to Castle de Haar for the month of September. In the course of August, reinforcements arrived:cooks, kitchen staff, linen ladies and chambermaids were flown in, partly from France, to ensure that the guests would lack nothing. A certain and appropriate distance between the staff and the baron and baroness was desired.

Greetje van Rooijen, head of housekeeping at Castle de Haar, remembers well how, as a little girl, she and her father (he was a gardener at the castle) had to bow to the baron when he walked by.

Over the years, relations between staff and the baronial family became increasingly informal. Especially the last baron, Baron Thierry, increasingly reduced his distance from the staff.

No questions

The relationship with the staff has always been very important in the castle. In turn, they too were treated correctly, by the baron and baroness and the guests. For example, it was obviously highly inappropriate to shout at servants or snap one's fingers. Nor did they ask questions of the staff, such as "do you like working here?", "how long have you been working here?" or "do you live far from here?".

Service à la russe

The dishes were served "à la Russe": not on plates, but "laid out" on large silver platters that the serving staff presented to each guest individually so they could take their own choice. This did not always go well. For example, not all guests knew this was the intention.

People of nobility were used to this, but "ordinary" people, like the mayor of Utrecht at the time, made no attempt to serve themselves. The poor servant then stood hunched over with the heavy silver bowl waiting. Eventually he solved this by whispering gently in the guest's ear, 'You may serve yourself. Go ahead.'

Tips

Tipping was common during the September stay. Guests often stayed for several days and so there was not only a tip for the wait staff at the table, but also for the chambermaids. The amount of the tip was entirely at one's discretion, but given the wealthy guests at The Haar, it was often a nice addition to one's salary.