Pocket Guide to the Cities of the Netherlands

8/3/2019 Pocket Guide to the Cities of the Netherlands

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poe K E T GU IDE TOTHE C IT IES OF THE

E T H E R L A N D S

W AR DEPARTM ENT WASHINGTON, D, C .


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F OT use of .M iZitaTY !e1'807l.nel only. No~ to be repu.blishea, inwhole 01' ?' 'l !. pad, 'I./}l,thout t 1 1 , 8 consent oft le e Wa}' Department.Prepm'ed by

ARMY It-.TFORMATION BRA.N HINFORMATION AND EDUCATION DIvISION, A. S. F.UNITED STATE A.RMY

ATTENTIONAbout the only thing in this bouklet that can be zuaranteedis the terrain. The re t of it is up to the fortunes or ~sfol'tl1nesof war. Many of the towns and cities described here have beenbombed and shell d by us as we approached, and belled by theenemy a h retreated. And many of them win still show themarks of the destruction visited upon them when these land were

being conquered and occupied by the Germans.The short historical notes < 1 1 I e l city plans concerning most of the.town. are correct as of the outbreak of the war. But the changeof war were still happening inmany places when Uris pocket zuidwent to press.You mny find that 3rt treasures described and located in thesepages have been looted or destroyed and jt lillybe years beforethose that cnn be restored are siuhts to see again. On the otherhand. some of them, by a stroke of good fortune, may be left intact,and you will be able to enjoy them.III


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And another thing: if some of these towns should Le declaredoff-limits, you'll bypass them, of course. Perhaps later, t .hey maybe opell to you.Food aud dr- i nk are discussed here, so that as times graduallyreturn to normal, you DllIy be guided in the tastes and customsof the country. But be sure that you are not encouraging a blackmarket 01' bringing hardship to the native civiliuu population ifyou take advantage (II what. the town 01' regiou has to offer. Youwill receive direction from till.' proper authority in this matter ..Anyhow. so fur us yOlli' military duties permit, >iceas much asyou cau, You've got a great chance to do now, major expensespaid what would cost you a lot of yonr own money after the war.Take advantage of it,

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CONTENTSAMSTERDAl'.I .GRONINGEN .THE HAGUE.HA.ARLE)'1 . .LEEUWARDENLEIDEN .. , ,1IAASTRICHT.ROTTERDAM.UTRECHT ...OTHER PLACBS. . . . . .

1111319232733394348

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AMSTERDAMA3[STERD.1M:iS designated in the Dutch Constitution as the' Hoofd-stud' 01' "chief city') of the Netherlands. Itis not the seat of thegovernment, nor the re. i dence of the royal family which are atThe Hague. But it i Holland' largest city (it had a pre-warpopulation of nearly 00 000) and was one of the greate t '011l-mercial and banking centers of the world.The foundation of Amsterdam da tes back to the thirteenthcentury, when merchants built a dam in the river Amstel, Thesettlement which grew np around this dam was origjnally'nlleuAmsteldam. The city's first b om came in the sixte nth centuryafter the northern Netherlands provinces had fought for and wontheir fl'eedom from Spanish rule. Amsterdam became the capitalof Holland. the most important of the seven united -provinces. Itscitizens became the merchants of the world. Many of the famousexpl rer came from Amsterdum or ralsed the money there tofinance tb ir voyages ; Henry Hudson set out from there ou theexpedition which led him up the Hudson River. The merchantsof Amsterdam urganized the Netherlands East India Company


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and the Netherlands West udia Company, which at one time oranother during the seventeent hand ihteeuth centuries governedpart of the East Indie 'outh Africa, and Brazil-not to men-tion New York ity which you r 1 1 1 uiber, was first called NewA terdam, 11 the seventeenth century it 'was often aid thatworld policy was made in Amsterdam, While the importance ofthe city declined after 1750, it made a comeback 31'OLlUd the middleof the nineteenth century, becoming the center of the Dutch En tIndie trade and the marke for ull Indies product, Money fromthi trade f lowed into Amsterdam and made it one of the, world'f lna nciai centers able to lend f me l to companies and governmentsall OTeI' the world,The original settlement f In tel am was b ailt in the form ofa half moon on the shore, f the Y (in Dutch H t I)), an arm ofthe ZUIDER ZllE, 'With the Am tel, which flows into the Y. a ner ecuter, FOl' defense pnrlJoses a . 'f'l1licircu]ar canal was dug onth landward ide of the ettlement. Each time the town wa ex-tended, a new canal was built in a wider emicircle parallel to thelast one, until there were four uch canals, called' gmchten," withtheir end' resting in the Y. 1he fir t three were the HEERENGRACH'l'(Lord'. Canal). the ICEIZI;RGRACHT (Emperor's Canal), and the2

PnINSENGRuCIIT (Princes' Canal} ; with their tree-bordered quay:;and seventeenth-contur houses they form the main thorouzhfnresof the city, Th fourth canal i the SINGELGR,\CHT (Girdle anal),which marks the boundary of Amsterdam at lit end of the seven-teenth century. inc then the y tern of emicircular canals hasbeen abandoned, and the ity has grown in very dir tion, evenspreading to the opposite shore of th Y which i connect ed withthe rest of Amsterdam by n ferry. everal lesser canals inter-secting the main ones were built :for shipping purposes, however, sot liat the city is divided into islands, It;s impossible to go manyblocks without crossinz a bridg : ther are mure than 360 bridge, )giving Amsterdam th nam of' Venice of the North}' A r mark-able f ature of all Am t erdum buildings is that. because of tl emal', hy terrain, th("y have had to b built on piles,The old center o f the city, bounded by the four main canal ,is the most interesting part, and appal' ntly it has been littledamazed by the war, There are two ways to ee it: one i bymotor launches, which in pre-war days ran regular excur ionsalons the canals' the other and better way is simply by walking,first along the quay' of the Heerengracht and the Prinsengeaeht,the 1 wo oldest and most interesting of the canals. As you walk,

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look for the remnants of the old city gates at, some of the canalcrossings.The heart of Amsterdam, and indeed of Dutch life, is a bigsquare called the DAM in h olde Lpart of the city, between theHeerengracht and the Y. Iti surrounded by historic buildings,of which the most important ar the ROYAL PALACF] and th IEUWEKERR: ( ew Church). The palace is a beautifully decoratedcln: sical structure, originally built to b the Amsterdam city hall;the great white marble hnll inside bas no columns to support theceiling, in spite of its enormous size. The kings and queens ofHolland are crowned in the ieuwe Kerk, which has lllany in-ter tinz monuments in its flue Gothic interior. On one side ofth D a m 1 - i a narrow street called KAL'''ERSTRAAT; this is the mainshopping street of Amsterdam. On the othe . side a "vide treetcan d HET DAlIfRAK leads to the ENTRAL TATION. Along HetDumrak are the Pnoorroa ExCHANGE, a modern building designedby one of Holland's foremost architects, and the STOCK Ex RANGE.The Central tation, which handles 0% of Amsterdam s railt.l 'affic.is well worth a visit iit is built on an island in the Y and issurruunded by docks where in peacetime you would see ships fromall parts of the world loading and unloading.4

Other interesting places in the old part of Am terc1am are theOUDEKERR:(Old Church}, built in the 14th century j the WEIGH-HO E: the MUNTTOWlrn, or old mint; the 1VESTERTOWEn, topped by agolden crown which tile German Emperor l\faximillan zave Am-sterdam in gratitude for it help in one of his many war ; theSOlntEYER TOWER (We ping Tower) on '11 harbor where thesailor . wives nsed to wave goo I-bye to their departing husbands;the old STt.TE UNIVERSITY" the l')nINCEllOD!lE [tuwn hall)' theREMBRANDTHUtS, home of the great painter Rembrandt. which isnow a museum filled with his etchinzs, Ifyou like paintings, thereare several museums in Amsterdam. and. if the German did nottake everything away, they are worth all the time you can spendill them. The most famou .gallery is in the RJJKS or State mu 'eumwhich ]1115-01' had before the war-Rembrandt' '1' ight Wateb"and" yndics of the loth Hall' two of the grentest paintings ofall time many more Rembrandts and oth r fine paintings byDutch and other European masters. The lIUNI '!PAL M SEUMhas, or had a fine collection of modem Dutch and French art arulthe COLONIAL INSTITUTE speciahzes in0bjects from the NetherlandsEast Indies.

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Other places yon will want. to see in Amsterdam are the twoquares, REMBRANOTPLEIN and LEIDSCHEPLEIN (Leiden Square) ;most of the caf s, restnurnnts, movie hou es and theater are in orn~aI them. ~etweel1 the Heerengracht and the Keizergracht youwill ~d tile plcturesqtte, ?ld JeWfSH QUAR'I'ER wi th its synagogues,ofwhrch the Portuguese 1 the best known' here al 0 is the heart ofthe diamond-cutting industry for which Amsterdam isnoted. Yon"ill want to see the farnou ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN, in the 110r ben tcorner of the city.The new pad of A.msterdlUtl, beyond the Singelgrucht, is n com-

plete contrast to the old historic section, The residential dis-tricts were laid out in H)OOby the architect Barlage who designed~or present-day Amsterdam one 01 the most modern city plansm the world. The streets here are a wide as most of the oldones are narrow, with many parks and open spaces. The archi-tectural style of many of the houses is very modernistic, with agreat deal of glass. In pre-w~Ll'days streetcar service from theold to the modern section was good and the distances relativelyshort.

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Food, Drink, and Entertainment,Before the war the Dutch had excellent food and a gr at dealof it. The better restaurants served mostly French cooking, butnational specialties which you might find inAm terdam includeda Dutch cut of steak (bietst'uk) served with home-fried potato s :rolpens (minced beef rolled in a blanket of tripe and pickled) .flensjes (Dutch pancakes) ; ertotensoep met usorst (thick pea soupwith sausage) ; lind It:alfsvleisch oroquetten, which are the Dutchequivalent of om hot dog 01' hamburger and could be had in the

corner automats. The most picture que restaurant ill Am terdambefore the war was e tablished in 1 70; it wa a meeting-place ofjournalists and politicians and had retained It original atmos-phere and traditions. Its bief.~tu7(, was famous, so famous thatthe steaks were numbered each diner getting a curd rendin


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GRONINGENALTI10uc;}'r the population of GRONL'WEN is only about 110.000,the city giv a big all lli,eJ.y impr ion. It is the 'eBter oI thenorthern Netherlands capital of the province of GroruD(T{l11,and i.the sixth city of Holland.Gr ningen has a long history. The Romans jt app ars, hall acamp at the present site uf Groni11gCl1 way back in 48 A. . D. TheNormans took over in 498, und iu 12 4 the town became one of thesettlements of the Hlllll>ealil: Langue. Long later :it had a shortspell of, punish domination and (h n, like the rest of the Nether-lands. came under French rule during .11npol eon's time. TheFrench planted u tree of liberty in front of the town hall duringthat period and at 1 I 1 s 1 r pods it was till there.Groningen ha only a few buildings of historic inter st. Oneof them, and quite a landmark, is the CmmCH OF T. MARTIN. ahandsome Go1hic structure. dating from the sixteenth century.The towel' of the church i, 320 feel high and 'an be spotted mileaway across the flat landscape. Anoth l'clrurch, the A.\ Cmrscnhas an attractive choir and towel'. Opposite'lhis chureh is the

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town ball, restore~ in Greek ell! rical style. Behind this is the~RS~'IY. Gron~geD wa: aJ,,:ays well kno",:,11or its universitywhich wa founded m H114. An item of exceedinz intere t in the li-

brury of th univer~ity is a copy of th Tew Test:rnent of Era mus,annotated 'by 'fartm Luther.Center of the city is DE GnOOTE and VISOffM.\RKT. From thiscenter fir-e old streets radiate, each named after one of the oldGroninzen families.Be?a:lse Groninge!l is the only large city in its part of the COUll-t .ry , It IS the shopping and market center for the whole rezion.

Because of these many visitors it has become quite a livel/' citywi.th, of necessity ,mnny good re taurants and places of ~l1tel:-ta inment. Eutertairunent, however, is of a typically restrainedDut~h nature. Famous in Gl'


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sat here-after 1913 in a great zranite Peace Palace I aid for byAndrew Carnegie where the World Court also held its sessionfrom 1922 on.A zood place to tart ight eeing is the small square called. imply IhT PLEIN(The quare), ill the center of which (unlessthe Germans took it away) is a bronze statue of William theSilent who united the Dutch provinces against Spanish rule dur-ing the sixteenth century. A block to the north is a charmingrectangular lake called the VJJVER (fish pond), in which the citymaintains a flock of civic swans, On the outhem side of theVijver are the most intere ting historic buildings of TIle Hagueill It block of buildings called Hsr BI NENHOF (m aning "innercourt') .The Binnenhof was once 8UlTOl1J]( led by a mont and i still en -tered through its anci nt gateways. Here is the oldest building inth city, the Gothic RWDl,;RZAAL [Hall of the Knights) lating from1291. In the greal hall with its high-arched painted roof. therepresentatives of the State of the Netherlands renounced theirallegiance to Spain. In front of th Ri lderzaal the gr at Dutchstatesman JO]Ulll vall Idenbarneveldt was executed for treason in1619. On the west side of the Vijver is the GEVANG'ENrooll'J': the

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picturesque but gloomy old prisen where another zreat Dutchstatesman Cornelia de 'Witt, wa: imprisoned iu 1672 and fromwhich he wa dragged wi h his broth 1" John to be killed by themob, The uor hand, outh wings of the Binnsnhof at' now us dby the two hou es of he Dutch Pai-linuient, At the Idem ell-trance of the Binnenhof i the .M_AURIT~Hm.S, one of the fill ,t 'mallpicture galleries ill Europe, with many famou: puint.ings by Rem-brandt, Vermeer, Hals, and other great Dutchmen; the best knownof them, and one of the greatest paintings in the world, i Rem-brandt s "The Anatomy Les on.",}u t we tof the Biunenhof is the BurTENHOF (Outer Court), abig and li ely square which i the cent r of life uf Th ague, Ifyou keep going west you will come first to the STADTRUI 01'TOWNH A L L first built in the sixteenth century, added to in the eight-eenth, and con idered one of the most intere tinO' examples ofDutch architecture. Beyond th Stadthuis is the GROOTT~ KERK(Great Church), a Gothic Church of the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturia , where several Dutch celebrities are buried and wherQueen Wilhelmina and Crown Princess Juliann were married.There are many other interesting buildings inThe Hague, amongthem the ,E'INOZAl1UI where the great philosopher Benedict

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Spinoza lived from 1671 until hi death in 1677' arnegis' vastamnite PALACE OF PEACE with its handsome formal gard ns : theMOLLER MUSEUM, which has a good collection of modern paint-ings; and the :\f.ESDAC MUSEU1\1, with very fine nineteenth centuryFrench and Dutch paintings, Bu you may be mol' mtere t d inexcursions to the beautiful out kirts f the city. To th en t ofthe Plein and aero . the !UN 'E S.EORACHT (Prince Canal) i theHAAG 'em;: DOSCH (Wood of The Hague). perhap the most mag-nificent city forest in Europe, about 21f2miles long and bali a milewide, with tall trees and pJea. ant paths. f you walk east throughthe Bosch. for about half an hour you will come to RET Hurs TENBOSCH (the House in the Woods), a royal villa built in 1647 :forth daughter-in-law of William the Silent. charmingly furnishedby Dutch and Chinese artist with many curiositie worth seeing.Aneth I' Ielizhtful wood is the HEVENI~ GSCHE Eo H, t thenorth of the center of the city, Ifyou can lay bands on a bicycle,youwill find that it is the be t means of locomotion.One excursion you will not want to miss is 0 S HEVENINGEN,the beautiful beach on the North Sea, at the edge of the city.Before the war it was easy to get to, simply by taking a trnm fromthe Buitenhof, The surf at Scheveningen is always good, and in

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urnmer there IIed to be plenty of places to dance and eat (includ-ing the Kurhaus), good concerts in the Kursaal, and a big di playof fireworks every Thursday. Be ides its two miles of beach andsmart hotels, cheveninaeu include an olel fishing village withnarrow treet picture que house and interestina local costumes,There is another zood beach at NOIJRDWIJK nly 20 mile from TheHague. The old university city of LEIDEN is 15miles north of TheHague and the picturesque t own of DELFT less than 10 mile {"t, r.Ther inot much night life in The Hague, out ide of the placesat SchEH'en jnge l1, because it i. mainly a city of homes. But thereare a number of good 11l v i house and several legitimate theaters,I: f the food situation permit. a Hague specialty to try is IndisoheRijsita/eZ a Dutch En t ndiau dish of boiled rice ierved with sidedi hes of shrimp, meat balls, chicken, tiny red fi he ,onions friedbananas, and 0 forth. It is very good very exotic, and flavoredwith the hotte t pepper in the world.

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HAARLEMI-LUJU,f:l\f. the fifth cit v of the Ndl.tcl'lanJs, with '(I population (,)fa bo ut h !O ,O OO,is the : ;; ~ n l o f the "l)\'Pl'U1l1cnt of the province o r:North Holland. \ltholl""h the provincial go ernment alill a num-bet' of indusu-ies are 'located here, the l.'iLy is to a certain extent asuburb of Alllst rdum only t w a} v e miles awn .Hnurlem be -um known for the first tim' in Dutch history dur-ing the war against the Hpllnish, Duriuj; that per-iod it was undera long siege by the 'pauiards and finally after a In-ave defem c sur-rendered under certain condition:;, which were, however not keptby (he pall ish, The most fumous p'l',,()n in the defen c uf l,hecity was Kenan Simons Hass .Iaar a .ourau ous woman who 111-spired men ns well as women to c~:llj nne th~ struggle and l'esi,stthe 'Item)'. The J.(l'catc~l boom PC1'1O


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quare wh i h is surrounded by old historic buildings, In on e cor-ncr stands the Crmncrr OF T. BAWl, 1111mpressive fifteenth c nt tlr)'ethic trueture. II is one of the largest churches ill Holland andis nol eel for its towel' which rises t o a height of 260 feet. .AI thewest, nd ar the old ~IE.\'r }Lo\BKET BUILDING, dating from Hi02,regarded us one of the cddest buildings in :iolland, and Ol e OwFISH Housz. Opposite t he St. Bavo elm!" 11is th OJ.DTOWN HALL,another sixteenth ceutury building. A few blocks awuy is theFRAN H.\LR Iuszmr with :\ hcuutiful collect ion of seventeenthccnl\ll:y Dutch paintings. TIll' welt lrnown painter. Frans Huls,although born in II I werp, 1ived most of his life in Huurlem.A Iittlc a way f rnm the center of tOWIl it > the new '1'. BAVOCmn rr. n la rge irnpressi v church built in the t hirtie . . Especiallybeautiful in Haarlern nr the suburbs BU1EMF.ND.UL, BEEM8TEDE.A KllllENIIOUT and BENTn:.Lll. l a 1 ' ! . r < , l y pupulated by ommui 1'5 fromAmsterdam. The 0 '('un is only miles away A.1Hl there are ex-tr meJy Iarg and attractive beaches vel 'y ncar, the best known ofwhich j ! . . ZANDVOORT.Hnmleru has several good 1'l'8Inlll"ants, mostly in the old cityCC!l1tC']'.T n the same qHarter nre most of the shops and moviethea tel's. As inmost Dntch cities. nightlife is limited.

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For small side trips Huarleui i" , ideal. Onlv 8 miles di tant andeasily reached by electric train, treetcar or b;1 is the Iurze b achof ZAND\TOORT, This resort ha up to date balhiJ~cr faciliti hotel,re~lalln:Ults, l~laces to dance, The capital, A. lST.ERDAJ\t, i twelven~lles away with fast transportation. every ten minutes, Just" out-ld. Huurleru are the dunes, where one CUll hike 0)' bicycle, In8J. ruig the ftllllOU, bull? ~elc1~ a re in full lJ]O,,-


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LEEUWARDEN

other branches had died out. Vel'), little i~ known about the3 1 ' 1 y history e f the t OWI\. II used to llc famed for .ts gold and

silver-work, but now it is primarily


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from tim e to tim e . Itis, 110We , - e l ', u quiet town without ro o muchrecreation.orne verv nice excursion can be made from the city. Southof the city are the FRISIi\N LAKES where it is ideal in the summerfor sailing and in the winter for skatiuz. To the we t is the hi -toric vil lage of H1NDELOOI'EN whereeverything looks as thoughit had not changed ill the last two hundred years, As a contrastit is intere ting to visit the Frisian end of the big ZUWERZEED1KEwhich has cl sed the Zuiderzee, now called IJ SELMEER, off fromthe ocean and is !l wonder of modern engineeriug. Another at-tractive trip is to go to the old c it ie s o f F 1L \J\'E KE R ,where in oldtime one of the Dutch universities used to be located, andHaRLINGEN, a small port on a direct shipping line to Hull inEngland.

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LEIDENLEIDEN, a city of 7'0,000 people, is built on 5 0 s ma ll islands at themouth of one branch of the BBI 'E RI\"Eu. It is 1 rimarily all olduniver ity town and has long been rich in museums libraries,printing houses and book stores. om~nerci~~ it is noted as amarket for cheese and butter. Iudustriallj', It 15 famous for themanufacture. of texti le 01' cloth product .Itis not entirely modern, however, and you will zather a feelingfor history inLeiden when you see the B U R G , a building set up bythe: Romans in ancient times. The Roman were here first andthey called the place DU(JdunW1n.The most importunt vent in the history O T Leiden came muchlater during the 0 yeal'A' WRr again t pain. Ithappened on Oc-tober 3 1574. rider the courageou leadership of Adriaan van del'Wer:ff, the inhabitants of Leiden withstood tl Spanish siege andheld out until that date. Ever since, the 3rd of October every yearis celebrated in memory of that liheration loner ago, when "iYilliamof Orange came to ther scu .On this holiday, it is (he eu tom in Leiden to eat i\ certain mix-

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LEIDEN ture of carrots, potatoes, and spare ribs, as a reminder of the hareldays of tbe si ge. They call this dish IIutlfpot enKtapl'ib.When Leiden was freed, 'Villiam of Onmge wanted to rewardthe bra very of the defenders. He offered the people either auniversity, or the privilege of going free of taxes for a whileLeiden made its choice-s-a university.Founded in 1575, the UNrVERSITY OF LEwEN zrew to he world-famous, Brilliant scholars from all over the world went there,including Grotius and Descartes. The law school of this univer-sity had a reputation as the best in Europe.It medical chool and its college for Indonesian. tudies havelikewise been famous.You'll find reminders in Leiden of the persecuted Engli h non-conformists who found relizious freedom first in Holland, then

in Americn. These Pilgrim Fathers spent ten years in Leiden, andthen in 1620, 11 small number of them, 102 oul in fact sailed toAmerica by way of Englnnd, This was the famous Mayfi01.lwVoyage to Plymouth Rock.A man who never made the trip, though he helped to promoteit i rememb red ill Leiden to this day. He wa the IearnedJohn Robinson, who wrote a book called-"A Justification of Sep-28 29


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ftl'uti0l1 from the "hurch of England: in 1610. In 1615 he. at-tanderl the University of Leiden, and though he was an English-man and a non-conformist, h was allowed to argue fr ely 011l 'eligiolls questions, something he conld not have done illEnglandat that time.You can see JOHN :ROBINSON'S HouSE il l Leiden, and you can seewhere he is buried in T. PETER'S CHURCH.Five famous Dutch painters were born in Lciden, includingRembrandt. the giant of them all. The other fo:'11'were Jnn Steen,Gerard DOll J[l11 vall Goyen and Lucas van Leiden, As paintersof the domestic cen , their Jives and their work were not. con-fined particularly to Leiden but rather ranged th Netherland. asa whole. Nevertheless, Leiclen is proud to have mothered thesegreat men of art,One of the fine t streets in Europe is the BREEDE-STlIAAT (Broad-street), the main drag of Leiden. Along here you will see the,"TADllm (Town Hall), originally found d in the 16U1century.Opposite the Town ~alJ is the G E CEENL.\NDSRUIS VAN RYNI ..\N~(Rhineland Community enter). . ....The S'l'ADlllJ1 is picturesque, with 30 windows ill a line m front,a tall spire and three highly ornamented projecting gables. In

the Council Chamber you can see Lucas van Laideu's version of'IThe Last Judgment," and several good historical portrait.Another street ill Leiden is called HEl' RAPENBURG. Th Uni-versity of Leiden is located here,Connected with the univ rsity are a well laid out BorAN10GARDEN an OB 'F..RVA-rORY.arul a LIBRARY of 400,000 volumes, with01'61' 3,000 maps and about 7000 ancient mauuseripts of pricelessvalue. The MUSEU1\[ OF NA'I R L HISTORY has oue of the richestcollections in existence. The MUSEU1\I OF AN'l'IQUITIES and theMUNICIPAL MUSEmC are two other esta blisluuen s which contributeto Leiden's fame a a center of culture and learning.T IT E RE],ORlrED CRURCFI OF S T. PETEH. contains monuments toBoerhaave, panheim, and caliger, noteworthy men in the city'shistory. Boerhaave, for example wa one of the world's firstdoctors.Near the red brick St, Peter's, you can also ee a monument. tothe burgomaster Van del' Werff. hero of the punish siege of 1574.The FISH MaRKEl" the CoRN EXCHANGE, and the CnURoH OFST.PANCRl'JA are three other interesting places in Liden.For recreation, people of Leiden often go ten miles away toThe- Hague or 22 miles away to Amsl;el'dam. Amouz these three

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famous and closely related cities YOll can find a wide variety ofentertainment, including the guy pla .es where young student'gather.Around Leid 11, yuu might visit tulip fields, 101 which Hollandis world-renowned. Yml might go by sl reetcar to the quaint fi 11-inrr town of KAT\\'IJX 01' to tile senshore 1'6S0'I-L at NOORDWIJK.Bathiuz in both places is ideal.The tulip garden, or the picturesque windmill you may visitm the outlying suburbs uf Leiden ar places of as much interestas the university, accordiug to your mood, "'hpJ'BVel' yon wanderyou will meet people of Leiden who will welcome your : interc. tin their liberated city.

MAASTRICHTMAt\STRICHT, with a population of about 65,000, i the capital ofth Dutch province of LI1>ffiURG. The city, although resolutelyDutch in pirit, has on ace uut of its location in the extreme southof the country, a definite foreign touch, Itis less than 15 milesfrom the Belgian and German herders. It is of a paeticularinterest to lovers of art becau e of it, ancient ohurches and theirtreasures.The history of Maastricht is quite different from that of theother parts of Holla nd. The city on the left ba Ilk of the rivel'Meuse was originally founded by the Romans who cul led it 1'1'a-jectu11!a~l11Io8am-a ruuue which later became Man 'ttjeht. incathat lime the t WTI, b cau e of its trategie location has been thevictim of itgreat numb r of wars, At one time 01' another it husbelonged to the Northern Netherlands, Southern Netherlands,France, Germany, Brabant, and the Bishopric of Liege. Finally,

ill 1839 when the split came between the Southern Netherlands(1l0 V I' enlIed Be19inm) and t . 1 l 1 Northern Net her! auds ( ll O w simplyculled the Netherlands] .Munstrlchl became part of the North. All32 33


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the e change in administration have call ed 1aa tricht to reflectdifferent political and social influence "Ifyou arrive in town by train you'll find your elf in the quietsuburb of WYK. To get to town you go down Hw 'I'ATION- 'l'RaATand the BnUGS'l'RAAT to the MAA BRIDGE which crosses the MAA,RIVER(Meuse River (IS you probably know it), This bridge wasoriginally built in 12 0and rebuilt ir 163, Before erossing it youmight visit th modern GOTHIC CBURCH OF ST, MAn'l'IN,As you eros the Meuse und enter be town you might wing offthe BR GS'l'RAATand 0'0 down the KLEINE 'T.\ATto the so-called OL DTOWN IL\LL ( ud tadhuis). Here you'll find a fine old 15th 'ell-tury building full of Roman and medi val antiquities. To get tothe real TOWN HALL, located on the market place, you take theMUNT 'l'RAAT, which is a fine wide street. On the way you mighttake a look at the former non Tum HURCH with its beautifulbaroque ea t fac;ade,The real Town Hall {Stadhnis) is a 17th century buildinz andis worth a vi it for its finely proportioned central hall and the ad-joining 1'0 ms containing picture, old leather hangings, and Brus-

sels tapestry by Van Del' BMO'ht. The e tapestris tepre ant thehistory of the Israelite in the wihlern34 35

From here you might walk up the Boschstraat for a vi it to the are uid to have served for many purposes. One report is that


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Roman ntholic CHURCH OF ST. MA~'I" (ST. MA'ITJIIA KERK)which is an ancient Gothic building constructed ill the 15th century.The CJlunCH OF ST. SERVATIUS i located in the southwe t of theVBJJT110F. t is especially worth eeing for it is the old st churchin the Netherlands, dating all the way back to 560-599. It ha .however, heen considerably modernized. Its chief feature is theEmperor s Hall which contains 1 1 :fine marble statue o:f Charle-magne. Against its pedestal are exhibited remains of a stonealtar to the Madonna dating to the 12th century and the oldestfixed reredos in existence.Other churches of interest are the PBOTESTANT CB1JROH, formerlythe baptistry of the cathedral (St. Janakerk}, dating to the 15thcentury ; the CRTIIlCH OF NO'fBE DA~IE dating to the 11th century'and th CHURC'H OF THE MrNORlTlX ,13 h century.For a rest p riod you might try the STAD -PARK. It has a goodre taurant and it fue view of the Meuse, Concerts used to andmay till, take place here in the summer.One O T the principal and very interesting features of Maastrichtare the PETERSBERG CAVERNS. These are a subterranean labyrinthof sandst.one quarries about 40 minutes' walk from the city. They

the underground movement in the [etherlands Ll 'eel the en vernsa. a hiding place, while other report have indicated that the Ger-mans intended to build a manufacturing plant in them where it'would be safe against ail' attack. Earlier atorie relat thatIurinz the French revolution the caverns :formed ideal hidinzeoplaces. You probably won't be permitted to visit the cavernswithout a guide, because you can en ity lose YOIII' "a ,v . In all, the1abyriath is more than twel re miles 10110' and seven Ini les wide.Some very nice excursions cn u be made from Maastricht.YALlCENBURG, n well-known Dutch ummer resort located ill oneof the few hilly parts ofHolland, ionly 17minutes awuy by train.A nicej a unt is to the HATE Au OF HALQ'ENS, a benntiful castle.A couple of interesting trips would be to the big coal mine regionof lliERLEN, a litt.le farther "orLh, to the Belgian city of LmGEand the famous resort PA.ou should not consider Mnastricht a typical Dutch town.You will find itmuch more outhern in character than the rezularI:>D~lt?h places. But you will, undoubtedly, enjoy the light-heartedPII'lt. of Maastricht's citizens, its historic monuments, its goodfood if it is again available, and its attractive surroundings,

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ROTTERDAMRoTTERDaM, , .. .ith a population of approximately 600000, i one ofthe large se aports of the, Continent. Consequently it is more ofan international town thnn exclu ively a Dutch town. till? ithas IDany Dutch characteri tics, and you can't imagine the citya being anywhere else than inHolland. Rotterdam has becomevery wen known in this war as one of the wor t suffe re rs at thehands of the Hitler Regime. On 14 May 1940 the Lnftwaffbombed the city indiscriminately and at least one-third of the city,including the whole center, wa . de troyed.Rotterdam was originally a ett1elllent built around a dam inthe ri vel' ROTrE. Very few particulars are known about its earlyhistory except that in 1279 the settlement obtained a city charter..Altlrouah the city deri vas it name from tile river Rotte, it is theriver MEUSE which has made Rotterdam flourish, furnishing thetown with a direct outlet to the ocean as well as to the interior.The main part of the city is on the right bank of the river. ThelUO t famous pel' on ever born in Rotterda Inwas undoubtedly

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Erasmus, one 01 the world's greatest scholars. Erasmus was born embarked on a big progrurn of bea utifyi.ng the city Along the


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in 1463 and became one of the great humanists.Rotterdam experiences two constant difficulties ill keeping itsplace among the world's big ports. It has to compete with theBelgian city of Antwerp, and it ]1:1 to keep the mouth of theMen e ill uch condition that it can be navigated by the world'sbigge t ocean steamers. To remedy this latter difficulty, it specialcanal called DE N~EUWE 1VA'fERWEG (the new waterway) WIl dugto the sea. A remarkable feature is that the mouth of this canal,nlthough twenty miles away, is the property of the municipalityof Rotterdam and the settlement there, called the Hoox OF HOL'LAND is part of Rotterdam.The city has relatively few historic buildings. Its real develop-uient . only came within the la t hundred years and its populationis mostly mad up of ind ustria lists and tradespeople. Most well-known was the CHURCH OF T. LA''mENCE, founded in 1414, whereeveral historic Dutch admiral wer buried, A famous modernbuilding in Rotterdam is the BOnIA) 1I J SEUM, which containsone of the most beautiful art collections in the world. Itwasbuilt during the late thirties :in accordance with the most modernmuseum technique. During this same period the city ofRotterdam

main drive, called CoOLSrNOEL, a modern townh all , central postoffice, e change, department tore and hotel were ju t or nearly. completed. According to report, the whole Coolsinael has beenwiped out and only emergency ..tore are there now. n the suburbsthere are some very remarkable buildings, an ultra modern coffeeplant built almost entirely of glass, and an officebuilding called theWhite House. InRotterdam. railroads, above and 011 the ground,cross the city everywhere. The attructive part of the city is themodern harbor and ,the bridges over the river Meuse, A tunnelunder the river, which had been started before the war, may nowbe fini heel. On the other side of the river is the uburb FEYEN-OORD, actually part of the city, and except :for some modern apart-ment buildings, not especially noteworthy for the traveller. Manyrich Rotterdam citizens commute to The Hague or its suburb.Before the war Rotterdam had a somewhat Iivelier nightlife thanthe other Dutch cities. It restrictions were fewer becau e of thecosmopolitan nature of tile large transient; population. Therewere plenty of good restaurnnts. Herring and salmon belongedto the Rotterdam specialties. Movie-houses exist il l srreut numbers

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and there are a few regular theater, Th city has an xcelleut


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commercial college, which ranks just below the universities,The sport center is the new stadium at the other side of the riv r,In addition, there are many tennis court); available for use, OrYaH Illay prefer water sport', The river and many lakes nearbywill settle that problem 01' you, The b t way to es Rotterdamis to tak on of the tOIlX by boat which go regularly through thecana Is with a gill ie to XI)Jajl1 the parti 'w ar .There are many poasihilities for excursions from Rotterdam.Nearby is themodern airport, called W.'.ALHA VEN; within t ellmile,is the old. attractive city of DFLIT, Of the neurest Beaches. theHOOK OF HOLLAND and SOIIEVENINGE are the most attractive.Both b II. 'he' are connected with th 'ily by fast electric trains,Another trip hould be made to Gocnx, home not only of Goudacheese, but of one of the most beautiful Dutch churches, Ifyouhave more time) the iland' of ZEELAND are full of folk-lore andhi tory and hould be visit d.

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UTRECHTUTlffiCHT, oldest of Batavisu cities with it!' shaded promenadeaud windinz canals, i the third large t city in the Netherlaud:and has a population of 160,0 . Itis the .apitul of the Provinceof Utrecht,The city has a colorful and importnnt hi tory, It was foundedby the Romans, who clio e the site hscause it wa a good place locross the Rhine. They call it l'1'fT.jectum ad Rltenum'l whichllama later became Utrecht. A.n indication of it. early militaryimportance i it abundance of old fortifications 11 , accessibl byfine boul vards, Modern times have added a double line of newforts which urround the enti.re city.Early in the seventh century, a mis ionnry, St. 'Villhol'd, camefrom England and founded the Bishopric of Utrecht which recog-nized as the only higher authority than himself the Emperor ofthe GerlUan Empire, Thi bishopric continued until LILt'. earof 152i when the presiding bishop was forced to yi Id hiworldly power to Emperor harle V. n 15i9, the foundationof the N"etherlunds state was laid in this city. Heel" the' Union

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of trecht,' a pact between eveu Northem Netherlands province, .


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" :I igned, and William of Orange was cho en a stadtholde.,Years later, Utrecht was the scene {II the signing of the farnouP ace of trecht which ended the punish War of uccession.Utrecht situated a it i. is the heart of Holland. Itis the larg-est railroad center and inlnn 1 'hipping enter in the Netherland ..All ll'eight going by boat from Amsterdam to the Rhineland 01' toR tterdam goes via trecht. e eral new canal have been builtfor this purpose.Like many other Dutch cities, UtI cht ha pte erved the oldcenter of own with its historic building, and monuments. Themost famous of these. the CATHEDRAL OF'!'. MARTIN was built in1250. and at that tim wa the finest Gothic structure in Holland.Unfortunately, a storm in 1674 de rayed the rna t beautiful partsof' the cathedral, and the damaze ha uev r been repair d. Its nd-joining towel' , known as DE OM, date back to 1321, and its chimeof 42 bells is famous throuzh ut the c untry. Tear he Dam arthe CLOISTERS and re idence of the arehbi hop built ill the 13thC ' ntury and restored in modern time by the-w Il-known architect,Cuypers, nether old monument is the POPE's Hou E, the homeof the only Dutch pope. Adrian VI which elates buck to 1517.

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The NlYERSITY is also located in this neighborhood. It is a very On one side of Utrecht you'll find the typical lowland landscape


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famous institution.In the main square stands 11 statue ofJohn van Nassau, father ofthe Union of Utrecht, which keeps ~live the memory of this historicconference, T. PIETEllS10211K built in 1030 and ST. JANSKEUKbuilt iu1050, in Roman style, are two other places of interest to an-tiquariuus, .A little farther- on is tile' OWNH.,\LL. The basementhas been moderl.lized and now houses a cafe kno",~ as the Mm1icipa]Tavern, a mee t ll l ,\ ! place for the townspeople. The CENTRAL Mu-SEUM. having t\ rare and interesting collection of antiques and theRULllO,lD MUSEUM, giving a complete picture of the Dutch rail-road system, might be of interest to you., .A . well-known landmarkof Utrecht is the lILU.U:BAAN, a wide triple avenue of lime treeswhich invites it Ieisurely strol].Utrecht, thot~gh not u large city, bas a number of good restau-r~ll~tsand movIe, houses, It also boasts one legitimate theater.It IS usually it quiet place but during the annual Commercial Fairtl~e tl'nn91~illityof the streets disappears and they fairly bust1~with nctivity, The surroundings of Utrecht are. among the loveliest of anyDutch city and offer much more variety than those of other towns.

while 011 the other side there is beaut iful billy and wooded C01U1ti'Y,DE BILDT, where the DUTCH Th1El'EUflOLOG('IX!'lTlTlITE is located,and ZEIsT are two lovely suburbs of Utrecht. Many commutersIive ill these pluces which are connected by interurban street-cars. On the way from Utrecht to Amsterdam along the riverY EQHT U le ta a re some interesting old castles, the most famous onebeing NIJ'ENBUDE which, before the war, was an art gallery, Onlyabout a twenty-five minute ride away are the resort towns ofHrr.vaaatru and BAARN. and for those who IH1TeIt little longer time,the electric train ride to Amsterdam takes only :39minutes.

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OTH !ER PLACES Dordrecht .


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Usually called DORDT or DORT by the Dutch.Handsomely situated on all island surrounded by the :M:TilRWEDE,the OUOE MAAS and the DORDTSCHE Krr, III the middle agesDordrecht was the wealthiest commercial town in the Netheelands.

Amhem.Capital of the PnOTINCE OF GmWEIU.AND,.One of the most attractive tOW11S in ihe Netherlnnds. A popularresidence for wealthy Dutch families who made their fortunesin the East Indies. Many of these homes and grounds are opento visitors,The district around ArIlhelll is the most picturesque in the

Netherlands. To the west is the REEBERG OIl whose high groundis located a casino where summer concerts are held. From the~TEE.~""ENT,\]\"EL (stone table). northeast of the town you call (J'et, . , " "a splendid view of the Rhine vuJley .Assen.Capital of the PRO\'1NCE OF D R R J . " ' T H E .A branch railway from Assen to ~TAD:-;KANAAL passes throuzh

11 district containing many prehistoric tumuli 01' "giants' gl'ave~" ,.The huge stones recull those of the Stonehenge j 11 England and areglaci al deposits from Seandin avia,48

Scene of the first assembly of the independent states of Holland.The older parts of Dordreeht retain all the characteristics of anold Dutch town=sypica l canals and charming houses.GROOTE Klo111K, 14th century, contains carved Choir Stalls, byJan Terwen Aertsz, the most important work of its kind in theNetherlands.GnOOTI IoOFDS-POORT ,n anci e nt city gate . is now a museum .AFRmAANSC'H MUSEUM contains relics of the Boer War.DORDRECHT MUBEmt: includes a collection of fine works by modernartists.

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PARn: ],-IEnwESTElN lind Qlt, \NJ), PARK to the southea t of thtown are pleasant promenades. Oppo ita H lder is the island of TEXErL on which is the villageof Kooo, a fishing town and aI. 0 a Lu hing l'ssort. The north of


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F!'(JIl1 the ZWYND.RECHT a dyk 011 th l'jgllt bank of t11 OudeMaa you can obtain Ihe be t view of Dordrecht and the wide:M rwede.the iland is called EYERL.\ND (Iand of ggs) becau: e myriads ofsea fowl ne t here. Theil' g.". an: collected and hipped to Am-terdam.Hoorn.

Gabled buildings of the 17th century w ith w all-. udorned withcolored tile add charm to th' old capital of l1rE";T FBEISLAND.It is the birthplace of Willem Schouteu who discovered the pas-

saze around the coast of loutlr merica and named it Cape HOI'Ila'ffeL ' hi horne town. 1'() hom here was Jan Pietersz Coen,founder of the Dutch dominion in the East Tndie i,A chee e market each Thur day i. an interesting sight.A fine view of the ZUIDloH ZEE may be obtained from the dyke.

'S Hertogenbosch.Also caned'S Bosch is the capital of the PROIlNt'E OF r ORTH

BRAnA:t."'1'.

Helder.In 1 111 apoleon :::tul'ted building lleavy fortifications here, utiing

Spanish prisoners of war for labor, The fortification' were Iat ercompleted by the Dutch.Three quarters of a mile ea. t of town lies NtEUWEDIEI', a harborat the mouth of the NU]{TH HOLLA~ru C.dNATJ, where the N_w,u.,C.lDEl' ('TIO L:iS located.One and a half mil to the we t of Iclder is the LWH'n1 USE,

ituat a on the dunes and affording a magnificent view of the sea.An interesting walk is along the H EL oE R D YK E, ntil'ely eon-strueted of blocks uf J:ul'wegian granite, descending to a depth of200 ft. ill the sea.

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The I~AADHUIson the GHU 'El \I, \llK'l' contains the GE~IE.'E~LYKM SEUM which displays ancient plan' of the t wn and neighbor- MEMORANDA


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hondo . .. ilver seals 01 the chi f magistrates from 1213 to 179.~,coin('011 ctions, instruments of torture, and other valua ble relics,

T. J..NSJtERI~ (the athedrn 1) ranks third in importance to theCathedral of Utrecht and the Clrurch of St. Nicholas at Kampen,hut surpas . both ill richness of ornamentation. Itcontains a13th century unage of the Virgin which j carried in proces rionthrough the town pver}' Hight from 7 July to 10 July.Nymwegen.Built on even hills ...vhich occupy the left bank of the W.AAL.The shady pleasure groun Is O T th VALlUIOF on hizh ground

above the 'Vaal, afford all int resting visit. .A . few ruins of a pfllncebuilt Oll Roman foundations by Churl magn in 777 stand h re.TIns palace was used H a "Nit of court under the arlovinginn,Saxon, Frankish and Hohenstaufen mperors.The d istrict east of :Nymwegell rivals the beauty of Arnhem and

Cleve. It is well wooded and undulating.52

OREN LI RARYe r n ethodilt U n l v r il l yDAL L A. fE XAS

MEMORANDA MEMORANDA


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MEMORANDA MEMORANDA


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MEMORANDA I


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1 lJ:>o1 lJI-< to

z:

l \ v \I ,\.I, .\


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Pocket Guide to the Cities of the Netherlands

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Transcript of Pocket Guide to the Cities of the Netherlands