Van Polanen was a noble family that played an important role in the Netherlands during the Middle Ages.

Philips III van Duivenvoorde received the fief of Polanen in 1295.

Willem van Duvenvoorde (1290–1353) purchased Oosterhout in 1324, together with vast properties around Breda and Bergen op Zoom, among them De Lek and Schoonenburg Castle (abandoned around 1450).

All of these properties were inherited by Johanna van Polanen who married Engelbert I of Nassau.

Much later this fact, among others, led to the House of Orange-Nassau's rise to the ruling dynasty of the country.