The Dutch Triple Heritage Helix

The title of the EAC symposium 2019 'Archaeological sites and monuments in the care of the state' isn't very inviting for the Dutch. We will not claim that the government of the Netherlands doesn't care about the sites and monuments. It does. But it has no policy to actively use the instrument of state ownership of sites and monuments for public objectives. The registered monuments that the Dutch state actually did own have recently been sold or are in the process of being sold. A striking example is the sale of the former royal palace of Soestdijk, where Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard lived for 60 years. The only registered monuments the Dutch state retains are the ones that can be used for governmental functions, such as office buildings for civil servants.