Koninklijke Marechaussee (Royal Marechaussee)

The Royal Marechaussee (Dutch: Koninklijke Marechaussee, abbreviated to KMar) also translated as the Royal Military Constabulary, is the national gendarmerie force of the Netherlands, performing military and civilian police duties. It is also one of the two national police forces in the Netherlands, alongside the National Police Corps, and is one of the four branches of the Netherlands Armed Forces.

Royal Marechaussee

Koninklijke Marechaussee

The Corps de Maréchaussée was created by King William I to replace the French Gendarmerie on 26 October 1814. The word gendarmerie had gained a negative connotation, so William called the new force “marechaussée” (he forgot the first acute accent in the document). Maréchaussée is an alternate French word for gendarmerie. In the French historical context, “Maréchaussée” had been the force’s name under the Royal Ancien Regime, while the term “gendarmerie” had been adopted by the French Revolution, making the Royalist term preferable for the Dutch King.

Real Policía Militar Holandesa

Former Marechaussee Barracks of the Papendrecht Brigade in the Netherlands (2024)

Order Image 18.286

الشرطة العسكرية الملكية الهولندية

At that time, the Marechaussee was a part of the army (landmacht). The Marechaussee was tasked with maintaining public order, law enforcement, and safeguarding the main roads. Although not specifically mentioned, this included police duties for the army. As such, the Marechaussee was part of the national police (rijkspolitie). The Marechaussee was the only police force in many small municipalities, such as Venlo, especially in the southern provinces of Limburg and North Brabant (former Generality Lands). In 1908, Queen Wilhelmina assigned the Marechaussee the task of guarding the royal palaces, which had previously been done by gardeners. To this day, guarding a palace is called “klompendienst” (clog service).

荷蘭皇家憲兵隊

Police Militaire Royale Néerlandaise

After Kristallnacht in November 1938, the Dutch government officially closed its borders to any Jewish refugees. The Dutch Marechaussee border guards searched for them and returned any found to Germany, despite the horrors of Kristallnacht being well known. In 1939 Nicholas Winton succeeded with his Kindertransport, thanks to the guarantees he had obtained from Britain. After the first train, the process of crossing the Netherlands went smoothly. On 5 July 1940, the German occupation government merged the Marechaussee with the rijksveldwacht and the gemeenteveldwacht. This meant that the Marechaussee lost its military status and the predicate Royal. These changes did not apply to the Marechaussee outside occupied Dutch territory. About 200 marechaussees guarded the Royal Family and the Dutch government-in-exile, and provided military police services to the Princess Irene Brigade, a brigade formed in the United Kingdom, consisting of Dutchmen.

Holenderska Królewska Żandarmeria Wojskowa

Голландская королевская военная полиция

After World War II, the Marechaussee was split into a Korps Rijkspolitie (National Police Corps) (as a replacement of the rijksveldwacht and the gemeenteveldwacht) and the Royal Marechaussee, which regained its military status. The main tasks for the Marechaussee since then have been border protection, military police and guard duties. On 3 July 1956, Princess Beatrix became patroness of the Royal Marechaussee. In 1994, the national and municipal police forces were merged into 25 regional police forces and the Korps Landelijke Politiediensten (National Police Services Agency). The National Police transferred its airport police and security tasks (primarily Schiphol) to the Marechaussee. In 1998, the Marechaussee became a separate Service within the armed forces. In 2014, a team of 40 Marechausee officers went to eastern Ukraine to assist the investigation into the shooting down of Malaysian airliner MH17. They provided security for the international team and assistance in collecting evidence from the crash site.