Showing posts with label Netherlands (Province : North Holland). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Netherlands (Province : North Holland). Show all posts

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Netherlands - Edam Cheese


Edam Cheese Market

Sent by Marissa, a postcrosser from Leiden, Netherlands.

Edam (DutchEdammer) is a semi-hard cheese that originated in the Netherlands, and is named after the town of Edam in the province of North Holland. Edam is traditionally sold in spheres with a pale yellow interior and a coat of red paraffin wax. Edam ages and travels well, and does not spoil; it only hardens. These qualities (among others) made it the world's most popular cheese between the 14th and 18th centuries, both at sea and in remote colonies.

Most "young" Edam cheese sold in stores has a very mild flavor, is slightly salty or nutty, and has almost no smell when compared to other cheeses. As the cheese ages, its flavor sharpens, and it becomes firmer. It has a significantly lower fatcontent than many other traditional cheeses; as little as 28 percent of the cheese is made up of fat. Modern Edam is softer than other cheeses, such as Cheddar, due to its low fat content. However, it is not quite as suitable for toasting as are certain other cheeses, such as Cheddar. (read further)



Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Netherlands - Texel


A mapcard of Texel Island.

Sent by Anna, a postcrosser from Hoogezand in Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia : Texel is a municipality and an island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark. The next island in the archipelago, to the north of Texel, is Vlieland.
The name Texel is Frisian, but because of historical sound-changes in Dutch, where all -x- sounds have been replaced with -s- sounds (compare for instance English Fox, Frisian Fokse, German Fuchs with Dutch Vos), the name is typically pronounced Tessel in Dutch.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Netherlands - Friesland


Multiviews of Friesland.

Sent by Alberdina, a postcrosser from Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia :  Friesland , West Frisian: Fryslân, Dutch: Friesland; Dutch pronunciation: [ˈfris.lɑnt]) is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient, larger region of Frisia.

Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân. Nevertheless, Friesland remains in common usage, being the Dutch (and English) name for the province. Friesland has 646,000 inhabitants (2010) and its capital is Leeuwarden (West Frisian: Ljouwert), with 91,817 inhabitants, in the centre of the province.

Fryslân distinguishes itself from the other eleven provinces by having its own language, West Frisian, which is also spoken in a small adjacent part of the province of Groningen, to the east. Closely related languages, East Frisian ("Seeltersk", which is different from "East Frisian (Ostfriesisch)", a collection of Low German dialects of East Frisia) and North Frisian, are spoken in the Saterland and in North Friesland areas in Germany, respectively.

Friesland is mainly an agricultural province. The famous black and white Frisian cattle and the well known black Frisian horse originated here. Tourism is another important source of income, with the principal tourist destinations including the lakes in the southwest of the province, and the islands in the Wadden Sea to the north.
Another interesting feature is the presence of many windmills. There are 195 windmills in the province of Friesland, from a total of about 1200 in the entire country.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Netherlands - Huizen


Views of Huizen.

Sent by Thea, a postcrosser from Huizen, Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia : Huizen ([ˈɦœy̆zə(n)]) is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.

The name "Huizen" is Dutch for "houses" and this usage has been linked to the belief that the first stone houses in the region appeared here.

Huizen originally was a coastal village, with a thriving fishing industry. After the damming of the Zuider Zee by the Afsluitdijk in 1932, the old sea was degraded to a mere freshwater lake, and economical activities shifted towards industry and commerce.

In the 1960s the town was designated to build substantially large residential areas, to overcome the housing shortage in the region. From then on, the town took on an influx of people and grew rapidly.

Where the Phohi-flat now stands in Huizen was, before World War II, the site of a large transmitter intended for contacting the Dutch East Indies, some 12.000 km away.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Netherlands - Den Helder


Greetings From Den Helder.

Sent by Antonet, a postcrosser from Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia : Den Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base.

The Royal TESO ferryboat service operates the transportation link between Den Helder and the nearby Dutch Wadden island of Texel to the north.

The municipality of Den Helder consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Den Helder, Huisduinen, Julianadorp, and the hamlets Friese Buurt and De Kooy.

The major areas of Den Helder are Old Den Helder, Nieuw-Den Helder, and De Schooten. Nieuw-Den Helder was built in the 1950s, following World War II, when there was a great need for additional housing. De Schooten was constructed in the 1960s.

Huisduinen was the original older part of the city, whereas Helder itself was a nearby smaller hamlet. Due to its strategic location at the tip of the North Holland peninsula, multiple fortifications were built in the area. The area likely began being called Helledore ("Hell's Door" or "Hell's Gate", later on Den Helsdeur) because of the "hellish" fortifications that prevented enemy ships from sailing into the Zuyderzee. The name Helder may also have come from Helle/Helde, which means hill or hilly grounds, or from Helre, which means a sandy ridge.

Den Helder has played an important part in Dutch shipping. During the Dutch Golden Age, ships would be assembled near Den Helder and sail from there the world's oceans. During the 1820s, the North Holland Canal was dug from Amsterdam to Den Helder. The lighthouse Lange Jaap was built in 1877 and is the tallest cast-iron lighthouse in Europe, at 63.45 meters (208.2 ft).


Monday, January 16, 2012

Netherlands - Volendam


Images of Volendam.

Sent by Janny, a postcrosser from Dokkum in Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia : Volendam is a town in North Holland in the Netherlands, in the municipality of Edam-Volendam. The town has about 22,000 inhabitants (November 2007).

Originally, Volendam was the location of the harbor of the nearby Edam, which was situated at the mouth of the river IJ. In 1357, the inhabitants of Edam dug a shorter canal to the Zuiderzee with its own separate harbor. This removed the need for the original harbor, which was then dammed and used for land reclamation. Farmers and local fishermen settled there, forming the new community of Vollendam, which literally meant something like 'Filled dam'. In the early part of the 20th century it became something of an artists' retreat, with both Picasso and Renoir spending time here. The majority of the population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, which is deeply connected to the village culture. Historically, many missionaries and bishops grew up in Volendam. Today there is the chapel of Our Lady of the Water of the controversial 'visionary' Mrs Hille Kok, which is located in a village park.

In the New Year's night of 2000 to 2001, the lighting of a bundle of sparklers caused a short but intense fire at a party in café De Hemel. The sparklers ignited the dry Christmas decorations on the ceiling, which fell down in their entirety. 14 people died and 200 people were injured.

Volendam is a popular tourist attraction in the Netherlands, well-known for its old fishing boats and the traditional clothing still worn by some residents. The women's costume of Volendam, with its high, pointed bonnet, is one of the most recognizable of the Dutch traditional costumes, and is often featured on tourist postcards and posters (although there are believed to be fewer than 50 women now wearing the costume as part of their daily lives, most of them elderly). There is a regular ferry connection to Marken, a peninsula close by. Volendam also features a small museum about its history and clothing style, and visitors can have their pictures taken in traditional Dutch costumes.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Germany - The Wadden Sea


The Wadden Sea.

Sent by Norbert, a postcrosser from Germany.

This is from UNESCO : The Wadden Sea comprises the Dutch Wadden Sea Conservation Area and the German Wadden Sea National Parks of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. It is a large temperate, relatively flat coastal wetland environment, formed by the intricate interactions between physical and biological factors that have given rise to a multitude of transitional habitats with tidal channels, sandy shoals, sea-grass meadows, mussel beds, sandbars, mudflats, salt marshes, estuaries, beaches and dunes. The inscribed site represents over 66% of the whole Wadden Sea and is home to numerous plant and animal species, including marine mammals such as the harbour seal, grey seal and harbour porpoise. It is also a breeding and wintering area for up to 12 millions birds per annum and it supports more than 10 percent of 29 species. The site is one of the last remaining natural, large-scale, intertidal ecosystems where natural processes continue to function largely undisturbed.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Netherlands - Amsterdam - Canals of Amsterdam


AMSTERDAM
Canal network.

Sent by Martina, a postcrosser from the Netherlands.

This is from UNESCO : In the 13th century Amsterdam was a small fishing village on the banks of the Amstel River and its mouth on the IJ, an arm of the Zuiderzee inlet. The name comes from the combination of Amstel and Dam, the latter word indicating a dyke or dam built to hold back the sea. This earth levee was also used to carry traffic and was extended by a bridge over the Amstel, made toll-free by a decision of the Count of Holland, Floris V. Amsterdam was proclaimed a city in 1306, and by the end of the Middle Ages it had become an important centre for maritime trade in northern Holland as its port developed on the river mouth. It mainly traded with the Hanseatic League, which it joined in 1369; but it was Antwerp that still dominated the maritime trade of The Netherlands and the North Sea.

Protected behind its dyke, the city grew around the port and Damplein, but the marshy soil had first to be drained and many houses built on piles. At that time it was restricted inside an initial semi-circular canal, the Singel, designed both for drainage and for military defence. In 1452 a fire destroyed almost all the city's timber-framed buildings, and brick became the most common material for rebuilding the city. The city built fortifications along the Singel at the end of the 15th century.

The Netherlands passed under Spanish rule in 1515 with the accession of Charles V. The country rose in revolt in the 16th century in defence of public freedom and religious tolerance, since much of the population had espoused the Reformation. After a period of wars and compromises, the seven provinces of the northern Netherlands formed the independent United Provinces in 1581. This situation attracted rich Jewish families, Antwerp traders, and French Huguenots in particular to Amsterdam, the largest city in this relatively dispersed federation without any prince regent. It became a land of refuge and of free-thinking. For two decades the military situation, the naval in particular, with Spain remained tense; there were many conflicts, but maritime trade and warehousing activities developed quickly. The Dutch East India Company (VOC, 1602) and the Dutch West India Company (WIC, 1621) were created to trade with the Indian Ocean and the Americas respectively. The 17th century was a particularly flourishing period for the United Provinces, whose sovereignty, economic importance, and cultural uniqueness were fully recognised by the Treaty of Westphalia (1648).

At the end of the 16th century, Amsterdam developed very rapidly and the port-city soon ran out of space within the medieval confines of the Singel. A vast project, for defence and urban growth, was carried out in the 16th and 17th centuries. The new line of defence based on a new boundary canal, the Singelgracht, designed by Daniel Stalpaert, extended the city outwards by around 800m. The Singel was then transformed into an inland port (1601-1603). The positioning between the latter and the Singelgracht opened up space for a new urban area that still had to be drained and backfilled. The project, conceived by Hendrick Jacobszoon Staets, led to the construction of a new port and trading city, built along a network of three new main canals which made it possible for trading vessels to dock. They were in the form of a series of concentric arcs, parallel to the Singel and adopting the same hydraulic morphology. They were dug simultaneously starting from the IJ, towards the south. The two first sections took the work as far as the Leidsegracht radial canal, allowing backfilling and building to begin; the third section extended the work to the Amstel around 1620. Following exactly the same principles, a fourth section was undertaken beyond the river towards the 'eastern islands' in the mid-17th century.

However, regular planning following the annular canals stopped at the outermost edge of the three, the Prinsengracht. In its western section, between it and the new Singelgracht defence line, the Jordaan district followed the old plot boundaries of the gardens after which it is named, breaking with the rectilinear pattern of the initial plans. This district, which was originally more working class and inhabited by immigrants, is the only part of the nominated property at its urban boundary with the Prinsengracht Canal.

This planned extension of Amsterdam is the work of the mercantile middle class that ran the city. It managed the projects financially, supervised the drafting of the plans, coordinated the work, issued building regulations, and supervised their application. In meeting the needs of trade, practical functionality and hydraulic and military safety were the driving forces for the project. The general rise in wealth of the city and its inhabitants in the 17th century made it possible for this ambitious urban and port extension to be completed in accordance with the initial project.

Amsterdam's growth made it one of the great European capitals, and its port became the most important for international maritime trade. In 1685 the city's per capita income was four times that of Paris, allowing the quantity and quality of the real-estate development along the canals throughout the century. Amsterdam continued to develop its tradition as a mercantile, middle-class, humanist, and tolerant city. It continued to welcome

immigrants, notably the French Huguenots after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes and more generally the free-thinkers of Europe. In this way, it enriched its economic and artistic elite, but also its expertise with the arrival of highly skilled craftsmen. At that time Amsterdam was one of the cultural capitals of Europe and among the most brilliant and most dynamic, notable for its printers, whose products were sold throughout the world.

The orderly growth of the city's new districts along its canals became a reference urban model, an image of the ideal city that would be adopted and repeated right across 18th century Europe.

The example of this city, enriched by its maritime trade, defended by its canals, dykes, and locks, and never flooded throughout its entire history, attracted the attention of all the great European builders of the day. It directly influenced civil engineering and town planning in England, Sweden, and Russia, where Peter the Great recruited its craftsmen and engineers to create Saint Petersburg, in similar swampy land on the banks of an estuary.

The end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century saw the prosperity of the city and its port decline. Wars against France and England undermined its maritime trade. The renewal of the port would come in the 19th century as a result of the creation of canals - the North Holland canal in 1825, followed by the direct connection with the North Sea in 1876. Its traffic is still, however, less than that of Rotterdam, close to the mouths of the Rhine and the Meuse.

A trend towards converting the warehouses into apartments began in the 18th century and gathered pace as time passed, in response to the growing urban population, and then to the city's role as a capital demanding greater services. In the 19th and early 20th centuries office buildings were erected, in harmony with the old context in terms of scale, architecture, and materials. However, the arrival of the railway and the central station on the banks of the IJ cut the city off from its direct contact with the inlet.

In the 20th century Amsterdam became an important administrative and financial centre. It shares the role of political capital of the Kingdom of The Netherlands with The Hague. In World War II around 100,000 Amsterdam Jews were deported, the majority of whom lived in the canal districts. The material damage caused by the war was relatively minor.

Retail shops and growing tourism are reflected in the city's changes in the second half of the 20th century.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Netherlands - Hoorn


Greetings from Hoorn.

Sent by Danique, a postcrosser from Amsterdam, Holland.

This is from Wikipedia : Hoorn is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on the IJsselmeer, 35 kilometres north of Amsterdam, and acquired city rights in 1357. Hoorn has 70,196 inhabitants (CBS: 3 March 2010). The area of the municipality is 52.49 km² (32.62 km² consists of water, mainly the Markermeer), and consists of the following villages and/or districts: Blokker, Hoorn, Zwaag, and parts of Bangert and De Hulk.

Cape Horn, the most southerly point of the Americas, was named after the town by Willem Schouten, who rounded it in 1616.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Netherlands - Schokland and Surroundings


Kiosk Monument Afsluitdijk.

Sent by Barbara, a postcrosser from Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Schokland and its surroundings is an outstanding example of the prehistoric and historic occupation of a typical wetland, especially in relation to the reclamation and occupation of peat areas. It is precisely because of these occupation and reclamation activities that large areas of land were lost. The formation of the Zuyder Zee itself can also be considered to be a result of these historic activities. Schokland is the last vestige of a once much larger area of occupation, excellently represented in this small area, with its settlements, cemeteries, terps (man-made settlement mounds), dykes and parcel systems. Continuing agricultural mechanization and the dehydration of deeper levels constitute a constant threat to the quality of the cultural and organic remains.

The soil in this area consists of coversands, an ice-pushed ridge of boulder clay, Pleistocene river dunes, and Holocene sediments, including the buried course of the Overijsselsche Vecht River and its tributaries. A post-Pleistocene rise in sea level resulted in an increase in peat formation and a corresponding decrease in the surface area of sandy soils. The earliest evidence of human presence in this area, as revealed by archaeological excavations, dates back to the late Palaeolithic period.
At the beginning of the 13th century, strong marine influences in the Almere were beginning to have an impact. At this time Schokland was still connected to the mainland by a peat ridge stretching to the south-east, which means that this area has to be considered as a polder, until around 1450, when the ridge eroded and Schokland became an island, like neighbouring Urk, which had been one since the 12th century. The distribution of terps and dykes from this period shows that land was being lost, much of it during storms such as that recorded in 1170.
A number of the terps lying to the east of the island were abandoned around 1400, work beginning on the creation of new terps at Oud Emmeloord, Middelbuurt and Zuidert. This was accompanied by a change in the economic basis of the communities from agriculture to fishing. At the same time the Almere was transformed into the Zuyder Zee. This loss of land and battle against the sea continued throughout the succeeding centuries, with the main losses being incurred on the west and north of the island. Protection became too great a burden for the local population, and so financial help was provided by the provincial council of Overijssel by means of a shipping tax, largely because of the importance of the fire beacon on the Zuidpunt. In 1710 Holland and Friesland gave additional financial support because of their economic reliance on the shipping routes that this beacon served. In 1660 Amsterdam, then the world's major port, obtained possession of Urk and Emmeloord and assumed the responsibility for their maintenance. During this time the four terps on the island were heightened and extended, using clay, manure, reeds and seagrass; the remainder of the island consisted of wet meadowlands.
Despite all these measures, the dykes and revetments were unable to prevent further inroads during the 19th century. The stone dyke designed to protect the entire island, construction of which began in 1804, proved too weak to provide continuing protection, because of the subsoil on which it was built, and storms and drifting ice regularly destroyed sections of it. The income of the inhabitants who remained on Emmeloord, Middelbuurt and Zuidert from fishing decreased steadily, and so it was decided to evacuate the island, which took place in 1859. Only a handful of buildings, including the church on Middelbuurt, were not demolished, and were used as service buildings for coastal defence work throughout the following century. Schokland's role was that of a breakwater protecting the coast of Overijssel and as a refuge for shipping. Following the passing of the Zuyder Zee Act in 1918 and the three subsequent acts designed to regulate its reclamation, the Noordostpolder in which Schokland is located was the second to be reclaimed. The last gap in the surrounding dyke was closed in December 1940 and the polder ran dry in 1942. Schokland, which had been an island for some five centuries, became part of one of the largest cultural landscapes of the present age, the IJsselmeerpolders. (Source)


Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Netherlands - Aalsmeer


Aalsmeer.

Sent by Jacqueline, a postcrosser from Aalsmeer in the Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia : Aalsmeer is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its name is derived from the Dutch for eel (aal) and lake (meer). Aalsmeer is bordered by the Westeinderplassen lake - the largest open water of the Randstad - and the Ringvaart Canal. The town is located 13 kilometers (8 miles) southwest of Amsterdam.

Because the largest flower auction in the world is based in Aalsmeer, along with numerous nurseries and an experimental station for floriculture, the town is sometimes referred to as the flower capital of the world.

The municipality of Aalsmeer consists of the following cities, towns, and villages: Aalsmeer, Kudelstaart, Oosteinde, as well as the hamlet Calslagen.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Netherlands - Den Helder


Images of Den Helder. On the left is Lange Jaap lighthouse.

Sent by Ronald, a postcrosser from the Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia : Den Helder ( pronunciation (help·info)) is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base.

The Royal TESO ferryboat service operates the transportation link between Den Helder and the nearby Dutch Wadden island of Texel to the north.

The municipality of Den Helder consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Den Helder, Huisduinen, Julianadorp, and the hamlets Friese Buurt and De Kooy.

The major areas of Den Helder are Old Den Helder, Nieuw-Den Helder, and De Schooten. Nieuw-Den Helder was built in the 1950s, following World War II, when there was a great need for additional housing. De Schooten was constructed in the 1960s.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Netherlands - Amsterdam


Multiviews of the city of Amsterdam.

Sent by Eric, a TravBuddy friend from Germany.


Netherlands - De Gekroonde Poelenburg, Zaandam


HOLLAND
Zaanse Schans
De Gekroonde Poelenburg

Sent by Astrid, a postcrosser from the Netherlands. Below is the view of the mosque from Astrid's window :)


This is from Wikipedia : De (Gekroonde) Poelenburg is the name of a saw mill, located in the Zaanse Schans, in the municipality of Zaanstad.

The mill has an eventful life behind. The original was probably Poelenburg 1731 built in Zaandam East. After the mill burned in 1903, the Paltrok 'The Locomotion' at the site of the Poelenburg put down.

"The Locomotion" was built in 1866/1867 in Koog aan de Zaan. The Locomotion from the movement went through life as "The Crowned Poelenburg" or simply "The Poelenburg. The mill was started 50s in operation before moving rapidly into decline. The mill was in Zaandam-Oost not restored, but was in 1963 moved to the then nascent museum in "De Zaanse Schans' and there from the ground up rebuilt. The mill lost while the original old Zaans-green color was black and tarred.

In 2005 under the mill was commissioned by the owner The Association Zaansche Mill a major restoration with the woodwork again in the original pot lid was affixed. The new woodwork on this occasion was also back with the old color so the mill instead of a sober black appearance one of the most colorful buildings on the Schans has become.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Netherlands - Seventeenth-century canal ring area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht


AMSTERDAM
Zandhoek within the area of the Canals of Amsterdam (a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

Sent by Peter, a postcrosser who lives in Hoofddorp, a suburb town close to the city of Amsterdam.

In the 13th century Amsterdam was a small fishing village on the banks of the Amstel River and its mouth on the IJ, an arm of the Zuiderzee inlet. The name comes from the combination of Amstel and Dam, the latter word indicating a dyke or dam built to hold back the sea. This earth levee was also used to carry traffic and was extended by a bridge over the Amstel, made toll-free by a decision of the Count of Holland, Floris V. Amsterdam was proclaimed a city in 1306, and by the end of the Middle Ages it had become an important centre for maritime trade in northern Holland as its port developed on the river mouth. It mainly traded with the Hanseatic League, which it joined in 1369; but it was Antwerp that still dominated the maritime trade of The Netherlands and the North Sea.

Protected behind its dyke, the city grew around the port and Damplein, but the marshy soil had first to be drained and many houses built on piles. At that time it was restricted inside an initial semi-circular canal, the Singel, designed both for drainage and for military defence. In 1452 a fire destroyed almost all the city's timber-framed buildings, and brick became the most common material for rebuilding the city. The city built fortifications along the Singel at the end of the 15th century.
The Netherlands passed under Spanish rule in 1515 with the accession of Charles V. The country rose in revolt in the 16th century in defence of public freedom and religious tolerance, since much of the population had espoused the Reformation. After a period of wars and compromises, the seven provinces of the northern Netherlands formed the independent United Provinces in 1581. This situation attracted rich Jewish families, Antwerp traders, and French Huguenots in particular to Amsterdam, the largest city in this relatively dispersed federation without any prince regent. It became a land of refuge and of free-thinking. For two decades the military situation, the naval in particular, with Spain remained tense; there were many conflicts, but maritime trade and warehousing activities developed quickly. The Dutch East India Company (VOC, 1602) and the Dutch West India Company (WIC, 1621) were created to trade with the Indian Ocean and the Americas respectively. The 17th century was a particularly flourishing period for the United Provinces, whose sovereignty, economic importance, and cultural uniqueness were fully recognised by the Treaty of Westphalia (1648).
At the end of the 16th century, Amsterdam developed very rapidly and the port-city soon ran out of space within the medieval confines of the Singel. A vast project, for defence and urban growth, was carried out in the 16th and 17th centuries. The new line of defence based on a new boundary canal, the Singelgracht, designed by Daniel Stalpaert, extended the city outwards by around 800m. The Singel was then transformed into an inland port (1601-1603). The positioning between the latter and the Singelgracht opened up space for a new urban area that still had to be drained and backfilled. The project, conceived by Hendrick Jacobszoon Staets, led to the construction of a new port and trading city, built along a network of three new main canals which made it possible for trading vessels to dock. They were in the form of a series of concentric arcs, parallel to the Singel and adopting the same hydraulic morphology. They were dug simultaneously starting from the IJ, towards the south. The two first sections took the work as far as the Leidsegracht radial canal, allowing backfilling and building to begin; the third section extended the work to the Amstel around 1620. Following exactly the same principles, a fourth section was undertaken beyond the river towards the 'eastern islands' in the mid-17th century.
However, regular planning following the annular canals stopped at the outermost edge of the three, the Prinsengracht. In its western section, between it and the new Singelgracht defence line, the Jordaan district followed the old plot boundaries of the gardens after which it is named, breaking with the rectilinear pattern of the initial plans. This district, which was originally more working class and inhabited by immigrants, is the only part of the nominated property at its urban boundary with the Prinsengracht Canal.
This planned extension of Amsterdam is the work of the mercantile middle class that ran the city. It managed the projects financially, supervised the drafting of the plans, coordinated the work, issued building regulations, and supervised their application. In meeting the needs of trade, practical functionality and hydraulic and military safety were the driving forces for the project. The general rise in wealth of the city and its inhabitants in the 17th century made it possible for this ambitious urban and port extension to be completed in accordance with the initial project.
Amsterdam's growth made it one of the great European capitals, and its port became the most important for international maritime trade. In 1685 the city's per capita income was four times that of Paris, allowing the quantity and quality of the real-estate development along the canals throughout the century. Amsterdam continued to develop its tradition as a mercantile, middle-class, humanist, and tolerant city. It continued to welcome
immigrants, notably the French Huguenots after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes and more generally the free-thinkers of Europe. In this way, it enriched its economic and artistic elite, but also its expertise with the arrival of highly skilled craftsmen. At that time Amsterdam was one of the cultural capitals of Europe and among the most brilliant and most dynamic, notable for its printers, whose products were sold throughout the world.
The orderly growth of the city's new districts along its canals became a reference urban model, an image of the ideal city that would be adopted and repeated right across 18th century Europe.
The example of this city, enriched by its maritime trade, defended by its canals, dykes, and locks, and never flooded throughout its entire history, attracted the attention of all the great European builders of the day. It directly influenced civil engineering and town planning in England, Sweden, and Russia, where Peter the Great recruited its craftsmen and engineers to create Saint Petersburg, in similar swampy land on the banks of an estuary.
The end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century saw the prosperity of the city and its port decline. Wars against France and England undermined its maritime trade. The renewal of the port would come in the 19th century as a result of the creation of canals - the North Holland canal in 1825, followed by the direct connection with the North Sea in 1876. Its traffic is still, however, less than that of Rotterdam, close to the mouths of the Rhine and the Meuse.
A trend towards converting the warehouses into apartments began in the 18th century and gathered pace as time passed, in response to the growing urban population, and then to the city's role as a capital demanding greater services. In the 19th and early 20th centuries office buildings were erected, in harmony with the old context in terms of scale, architecture, and materials. However, the arrival of the railway and the central station on the banks of the IJ cut the city off from its direct contact with the inlet.
In the 20th century Amsterdam became an important administrative and financial centre. It shares the role of political capital of the Kingdom of The Netherlands with The Hague. In World War II around 100,000 Amsterdam Jews were deported, the majority of whom lived in the canal districts. The material damage caused by the war was relatively minor.
Retail shops and growing tourism are reflected in the city's changes in the second half of the 20th century. (Source)



Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Netherlands - Zaanstreek


The traditional costume of women from Zaan in the Netherlands.

Sent by Marleen, a postcrosser from Amsterdam.

This is from Wikipedia : The name Zaan also refers to the district through which the river runs. The district (Dutch: Zaanstreek) is believed to be the world's first industrialized area.

During the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century, the Zaan district was dotted with windmills, which processed materials such as linseed, used in the paint industry, and agricultural products such as mustard seed and wood. By the mid-17th century, approximately 900 windmills could be found along the river, some of them still preserved in the Zaanse Schans.

The Zaan district continues to be a heavily industrialized area with many factories, particularly around the city of Zaandam. A number of major Dutch companies, like Ahold and Verkade, were founded in the Zaan district.

The dialect spoken in the Zaan area is known as Zaans. It has some similarities with the West Frisian dialect.

French impressionist painter Claude Monet stayed in Zaandam in the summer of 1871 and produced a series of 24 paintings of the Zaan district, writing to his friend Camille Pissarro that, "there is enough here to paint for an entire lifetime." Monet returned to the Zaan district to paint during visits to the Netherlands in following years.

The name of the Alkmaar-based soccer team AZ is short for Alkmaar Zaanstreek.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Groeten uit Schagen


Sent by Wim, a postcrosser who lives in Schagen, in the northwestern part of Holland. According to Wim, there is a 10-week festival in Schagen, where people dress in all different costumes during the summer.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Netherlands - Amsterdam


This postcard was sent by Pinar, a postcrosser from Turkey who tagged me in "Vertical Card Tag" in the forum. The postcard was stamped and postmarked in Turkey. She visited Amsterdam recently and bought the card there. It shows a Montelbaanstower with roundtrip boat.