1941 | Wehrmacht and Mussert

On 13 May 1940 the director of the Queen’s Office, G.C.W. van Tets van Goudriaan, followed Queen Wilhelmina into exile in England. To protect the building during the war, iron shutters were installed, some of which were never taken down. In September 1941 the German Wehrmacht requisitioned the building and set up a casino there. Eighteen months later, the leader of the Dutch National Socialist Movement (NSB) Anton Mussert established his secretariat in Groen van Prinsterer’s old house. As the building was in disrepair, the architect G.A.C. Blok was engaged to restore it. The restoration took place in the period 1943-1944. Mussert scarcely made any use of the restored office. The secretariat closed down in 1944, and as the head of the NSB, Mussert had his headquarters in Utrecht. With the Allies advancing, he fled to The Hague in April 1945. On 7 May he was arrested on Korte Vijverberg.