Society and Culture. The cultural life in The Netherlands is varied and lively. Nation’s cultural life as a whole achieved an international reputation in the 17th century, which is often called its Golden Age. The Dutch themselves take great pride in their cultural heritage, and the government is heavily involved in subsidizing the arts, while not involving itself directly in artistic control of cultural enterprises. Indeed, the long-enduring tradition of Dutch freedom of expression has undoubtedly played a remarkable role in the flowering of Dutch culture through the ages. Traditionally, The Netherlands are seen as the land of tulips, mills and wooden shoes. However, next to these symbols there are many other aspects and habits that makes the Dutch culture so special, well known and loved by people from all over the world: Tulips. Holland is the country of flowers. Bulbs and more bulbs, flower parades and markets castle gardens and flower auctions can be found around every corner! During the spring, the flowers in the bulb fields between Haarlem and Sassenheim (near Leiden) in the South Holland province are in bloom. The local tourist offices will be happy to provide you with more information about special bulb routes in this area. Why don't you rent a bicycle and cycle between bright red, yellow and purple-colored fields? The special Flower Bulb Route can be purchased from the VVV (Tourist Information Office) in Lisse. Take advantage of the opportunity to visit! The route is ± 15 miles long. The best time to see the bulbs in bloom is around mid-April (or a little earlier or later, depending on the weather). Along this route you'll also pass the Keukenhof Gardens in Lisse. This is the most exciting and colorful spring attraction in Holland. In the last fifty years millions of visitors, both from Holland and abroad, have discovered that springtime in the Keukenhof offers an exuberant feast for the eyes. Some 80 acres of winding paths, gurgling streams, placid ponds and more flowers than you have ever seen in one place at one time. There are tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and other flowering bulbs, flowering shrubs, ancient trees and countless natural surprises. Furthermore there are ten ever-changing indoor exhibitions or flower parades, seven theme gardens, a corn mill, a sculpture trail and a special route for children. In 2006 the Keukenhof will be open from March 23 to May 19. Windmills The Dutch were the first real innovators of the windmill. Some 100 years ago, Holland boasted no less than 10,000 operational mills and for five centuries, windmills were the primary source of power in Holland. There are two types of mills: watermills are driven by waterpower and windmills which, as the name suggests, are driven by the wind. The watermills were usually used as corn mills, but they also produced paper, oil and sawed timber. There are approximately 70 of this type left in Holland. The windmill is divided into two categories, the industrial mill and the drainage mill. The industrial mills were named according to their use, like sawmill, but have succumbed to modern technology (there are still a few left). The drainage mills keep the land behind the dikes free of surplus water, thereby creating 'polders' (reclaimed land). These mills are still functioning in some of the older polders. There are approximately 1,000 windmills left and they can be found dispersed throughout 12 provinces, but mostly in Zuid Holland. The "Zaanse Schans" region is probably the world’s first industrial estate ever. Some 250 years ago, well over 800 windmills were cramped into this relatively small area. They performed a wide range of industrial duties. The mills at "Kinderdijk" are a must see! Kinderdijk is one of the best known sights of Holland. In 1997 the Kinderdijk mills were placed on Unesco’s World Heritage Sites List. Nineteen windmills are lined up in two opposite rows. The round brick windmills on one side drain the Nederwaard. On the opposite side, the octagon windmills keep the Overwaard from being flooded. During July and August all the windmills operate on Saturdays. Some of the mills are open to the public. Bicycles Holland is the ultimate bicycling country. Nearly everyone owns a bike, and some people even have two. A Dutchman without a bike is like a fish without water! The Dutch use the bicycle as a way of transportation rather than just for recreation. It is common to use the bike for daily shopping and to commute to work and school. You will find clearly marked bicycle routes (direction pointers with red lettering on white backgrounds) throughout Holland. There are many special lanes and paths for cyclists with a total length of approximately 11,000 miles! Before you hop on a bike in Holland, it is a good idea to buy a cycling map. The smallest country roads and lanes, cycling tracks and villages are indicated on the combined cycle- and road maps. The ANWB/VVV (Tourist Information Office) sells bicycling maps. They are available for every province in Holland. Very useful, for instance, if you want to plan your own route or want to know where you are, once you have reached an unplanned destination. With a good, detailed cycling map the possibilities are endless. Many companies specialize in the rent and repair of bicycles. Special events for cyclists are regularly organized. In short, Holland is a 'cyclist-friendly' country with a climate characterized by mild winters and comfortable summers. Another important aspect is that Holland is generally flat with only an occasional hill. This makes the country ideal for even longer tours and also allows the youngest and the oldest member of the family to participate. While cycling through Holland you will notice wide-open spaces like the polders, beautiful forests, colorful bulb fields, attractive towns and picturesque villages. En route there are plenty of opportunities to take a rest at terraces of restaurants and cafes, specially built picnic areas or anywhere along the side of the road. All lovers of bicycles and bicycling should visit the Velorama. It is the only bicycle museum in Holland! Located in Nijmegen, the museum is a treasure trove of information. It boasts well over 250 antique bicycles and the collection also comprises contemporary bicycles. Cheese Holland is truly the 'land of cheese.' This 'cheese culture' has left its mark on cities like Alkmaar, Gouda and Edam. The Dutch have been producing cheese since before 400 AD. The importance of cheese making increased as the process of cattle breeding improved. In the Middle Ages official dairy markets and weigh houses were introduced which controlled both the quality and the weight of the cheese. All the produced cheese came from farms in the provinces of Noord Holland, Zuid Holland, Friesland, and western Utrecht. Although production has been taken over by factories, there are still over 600 farms today (mostly in the provinces of Zuid Holland and Utrecht) that produce cheese, known as farmers cheese ("Boerenkaas"), made from unpasteurized milk. “Gouda,” “Edam,” and “Leiden” cheeses are among the most prominent of all Dutch cheeses. More than 50% of the total cheese production consists of Gouda cheese. Edam cheese is the only cheese in the world to hold a perfectly round shape and is the second most important product in the variety of Dutch cheeses representing 27% of the total Dutch cheese production. Leiden cheese distinguishes itself from the others by the addition of cumin seeds. Soft young cheese (“jonge kaas”) is ripened for about three weeks. Sharp cheese ("belegen kaas") ripens between two and seven months while the very sharp varieties ("oude kaas") need to ripen for at least twelve months. Today, the cheese markets in Gouda and Alkmaar (open during the summer months) still feature the old rituals and traditions of the cheese trading process. The cheese porters wear white uniforms and lacquered straw hats. They carry the cheese on barrows painted in the color of their section (80 cheeses per barrow, weighing approx. 353 pounds in total). The cheese is carried to the weigh house, where the Weighing Master calls out the correct weight and writes it down on a blackboard. The porters subsequently take the cheeses to the buyers’ warehouses or to lorries waiting to transport the cheeses. The Alkmaar cheese market is unique in the world. It attracts many visitors, as it is one of the best-known sights of Holland. The market is held every Friday morning at 10 a.m. (from April to September) in front of the historical weigh house, in the town center. The market derives much of its appeal from the performance of the cheese porters. The weigh house now houses the local Tourist Information Office (VVV) and the Dutch Cheese Museum. The museum displays on the history of cheese as well as on cheese-making equipment. Emphasis is placed on the tools used in the 18th and 19th centuries before the advent of dairy factories. National Costumes From all over the world tourists flock to Holland expecting to see all Dutch people in traditional costume. That is about as far from the truth as what many Dutch people think themselves: that the traditional costume is something we wear for tourists only. The truth is that the traditional costume for some people means daily wear and not because they work in the tourist industry, but because their parents and grandparents before them wore exactly the same things and it is part of their cultural background. Holland doesn't have one single national costume. It does, however, have a rich variety of traditional regional costumes. The most famous part of the Dutch costume is the wooden shoes. In the past, leather shoes were a luxury that only the rich could afford. These days, 3 million pairs of clogs are still produced in Holland annually. Nowadays, clogs are mostly worn in the countryside, as they are warmer and dryer than rubber boots. You can tell where people came from by the shape and look of the clogs. Not too long ago clogs were approved for industrial use by European Community regulations, something Dutch farmers have known for centuries of course! Wooden shoes are therefore not only abundant in souvenir shops, but are also still worn by many farmers and bulb growers as cheap, long-lasting and save working shoes. Where to see traditional costumes? The former fishing villages around the IJsselmeer (formerly Zuider Sea) are your best bet. Volendam and Marken are not far from Amsterdam and you are guaranteed to see the inhabitants in costume. If you'd like to see how wooden shoes are made, visit a clog factory! Other areas where you will see people in costume are the provinces of Zeeland and Friesland and the northern region of the province of Gelderland. Paintings Dutch painters are amongst the greatest the world has ever known. Wellknown painters of the Golden Age include the great 17th-century Dutch artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Steen. The Dutch artistic tradition continued to be vigorous in more recent centuries producing famous and influential painters such as Van Gogh, Mondriaan and Appel. Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890) left the world some 860 paintings. He painted these in eight years and six months. For this reason, Van Gogh is known for his almost obsessed way of working, often neglecting his health. Van Gogh became famous for his use of light and color. He spread his paint thickly onto the canvas with heavy brushstrokes or a palette knife. Van Gogh died in 1890, only 37 years old. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam houses an enormous collection of paintings and drawings by Van Gogh. The Kröller-Müller Museum in the Hoge Veluwe National Park also owns a stunning collection of works by Van Gogh. Rembrandt van Rijn (1606 - 1669) was a respected artist in his day and received many commissions. Rembrandt is Holland's greatest artist of the Dutch Golden Age and the Dutch school. The Night Watch wasn't a great success it first. That is to say, his client was not happy with it. The original title of the master piece is 'The company of Frans Banning Cocq'. It is a group portrait of the section of the Civic Guard. Rembrandt portrayed the group of riflemen in a daring and original way. He did not paint them at their annual dinner party or ranked by rank, but choose to immortalize them as a lively group. It was not until much later that the painting became known as 'The Night Watch'. Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is praised for his use of composition, and light. Only 35 of his paintings are still in existence. Vermeer's paintings are small and realistic. In contrast with Rembrandt he did not paint large group portraits. He depicted two people at the most. Usually, these are going about their everyday business. Vermeer was a master of composition, space and light. A good example is 'The Milkmaid'. The Mauritshuis in The Hague exhibits Vermeer's painting 'View of Delft'. In 1994 this painting was restored beautifully. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam owns four Vermeer paintings. This is he largest collection of paintings by this master in the world. Jan Steen (1626-1679) is mainly known for the humor in his work. He portrayed mainly fun-loving, partying groups of people. His masterly technique and ingenious compositions make him a great artist. The Municipal Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden owns a number of his paintings. A well-known Dutch expression says 'It is a Jan Steen household'. This means an untidy and messy household. Order, diligence and neatness are lacking altogether. Jheronimus Bosch (ca. 1453 - 1516) painted scenes abounding with demons, monsters and mysterious creatures.He often depicted biblical themes. In 'The Garden of Lusts' he painted the creation of the world, the earthly paradise and the punishment of sinners in hell. He also painted the seven cardinal sins and Christ's carrying the cross. A royal commission by Philip the Fair proves that he was considered a skilled artist during his life. Interpretations of his scenes have filled many books. Today, people still speculate about his works. Only 25 paintings and eight drawings have stood the test of time. Pieter Mondrian (1872 - 1944) aimed to portray the essence of reality in this paintings. He resisted all superfluous forms and shapes. Mondrian was one of the pioneers of the abstract art of painting. Inspired by the new expressionist movement and Kubism, Mondrian's style changed. The paintings he made during his 'purely abstract' period have become worldfamous. He aimed to portray the essence of reality. He did away with all superfluous shapes and forms. His works consisted only of planes in the basic colors, with horizontal and vertical lines. The largest collection of Mondrian works in the world can be admired in the Municipal Museum The Hague.

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