Albion
02-03-2012, 05:40 PM
By all natural laws Holland should not exist. Located on a shifting delta, sinking coast and rising sea, half of it already lies lower than sea level. Each century the water in relation to the land is some seven inches higher. Anyone with a bit of logic can figure what the end must be! But the Dutch won't give up. Hardened by centuries of struggle to survive, they refuse defeat. To save their country from filling to the brim like a bowl they construct higher and stronger dikes and keep pumps going night and day, though it be forever. And just to defy fate, they make more dikes around more sea to create more land!
Our remarkable country goes by the name Nederland, translated, The Netherlands. For foreigners its easier to say- Holland. Both names mean about the same: hollow land or low land which lies nether-most. Centuries ago the English from across the North sea met mainly Hollanders, that is, the people who lived in the western part of the country, present day provinces of North and South Holland, including ports and cities as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Scheveningen, The Hague, Delft....Thus, they took to calling the whole country Holland.
In the same way, here in the Netherlands we often say England for what is actually Great Britain. But a Scot or Welshman insist he is a Briton, not an Englishman! Just so, the Dutch in other part of the country may object to the term Hollander. For example, when a person from the province of Friesland or Limburg leaves for Amsterdam, he says, I'am going to Holland, but all the Dutch consider themselves as Nederlanders (Netherlanders).
The word Dutch is derived from the old word Dietsch (used in the middle-ages) which means actually the same as Deutsch, mainly; people. Five hundred years ago the English thought of all the people in Holland and in the lands beyond, now Germany, as speaking some form of German. Later the distinction came between Dutch and German, and the name Dutch remained for the Netherlanders. Many Americans do not understand this difference. For instance, many fail to realize that the Pennsylvania Dutch came from Germany and not from the Netherlands.
The Netherlands lies on the North sea facing Britain and the Atlantic ocean beyond; also on the sea route from the Baltic to the mediterranean and to Asia. Furthermore, some important European rivers come to the North sea through The Netherlands. This Northern land would be Artic if the gulf stream did not warm it. Thanks to the temperate climate the ports never freeze over.
Here at the crossroads of sea and rivers, in the heart of industrial Europe, the Germanic tribe of the Dutch have built a prosperous nation. Americans who still think of our country as a quaint little land of Hans Brinker are behind the times. It is like believing that the United Atates is filled with Indians and cowboys.
The Netherlands did not always enjoy a fine location for trade and industry. In the time of the Romans 2000 years ago it lay at the very edge of the known world. The Romans who made the Rhine their northern boundary had little interests in the chilly marshes beyond. They established a string of forts between the delta arms to defend their frontier.
When the Roman legions withdrew and their empire collapsed in the fifth century, Germanic tribes seized the rich lands. The Franks settled south of the Rhine, the Saxons occupied the eastern lands north of the river. The Frisians kept to their coastal marshes in the west and north. All this happened some fiftheen hundred years ago, but to this very day local differences in speech and customs remind one where Franks, Frisians and Saxons settled. The standard Dutch language, as learned in the schools, is based on Frankish speech, but each part of the country has its own dialect. Frisian is the most distinct and is to be considered as a seperate language. Frisian is more related to English than to Dutch and German. People from other parts the Netherlands have great difficulties to understand Frisian.
From the North coast to the very south is only 150 miles, and from the North sea in the west to the German border only 100 miles. You could get in a car at from Rotterdam and have your first coffee break in Germany.Tiny Netherlands, only 100 by 150 miles, packs in enough variety of landscapes, towns, villages, customs, dialects, not to forget the surviving of windmills and wooden shoes.
The province of Friesland is the only part where Frisian language survived to this very day. The province of Groningen is a mixure of Saxons and Frisians but it is definetely Saxon by speech. The provinces Drenthe, Overijssel and Gelderland are old saxon territory. The province of Overijssel (my home ) means; across the IJssel, a small arm of the Rhine. The western provinces Utrecht, North and Douth Holland where areas Frisians and Franks mingled, but nevertheless Frankish. The southern tier of provinces are mainly Frankish in tradition: Zeeland (Sealand) with its islands, North Brabant and Limburg. In Belgium, there are also large community of Dutch-speaking people. They are related to us Dutch by blood, language and traditions. They are Frankish in speech, and in French-speaking part of Belgium, in Wallonia, there are also small communities of Flemish,and ofcourse in Northern France, in the district of North-Pas-De Calais, or, as we called French or Southern France, Picardia and Artesia. Especially in the district of Dunkerque (Duinkerken), the so-called Westhoek, there is still a billangual Flemish community.
One shall not forget that Dutch and Flemish are close related relatives, but there are also differences. The white people of South Africa, the Afrikaners, are of mainly Dutch origin, and close related to us by race, blood and language. The Dutch and Flemish themselves are related with North Germans by blood, culture, traditions and dialects, Both are low-Germans.
Our remarkable country goes by the name Nederland, translated, The Netherlands. For foreigners its easier to say- Holland. Both names mean about the same: hollow land or low land which lies nether-most. Centuries ago the English from across the North sea met mainly Hollanders, that is, the people who lived in the western part of the country, present day provinces of North and South Holland, including ports and cities as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Scheveningen, The Hague, Delft....Thus, they took to calling the whole country Holland.
In the same way, here in the Netherlands we often say England for what is actually Great Britain. But a Scot or Welshman insist he is a Briton, not an Englishman! Just so, the Dutch in other part of the country may object to the term Hollander. For example, when a person from the province of Friesland or Limburg leaves for Amsterdam, he says, I'am going to Holland, but all the Dutch consider themselves as Nederlanders (Netherlanders).
The word Dutch is derived from the old word Dietsch (used in the middle-ages) which means actually the same as Deutsch, mainly; people. Five hundred years ago the English thought of all the people in Holland and in the lands beyond, now Germany, as speaking some form of German. Later the distinction came between Dutch and German, and the name Dutch remained for the Netherlanders. Many Americans do not understand this difference. For instance, many fail to realize that the Pennsylvania Dutch came from Germany and not from the Netherlands.
The Netherlands lies on the North sea facing Britain and the Atlantic ocean beyond; also on the sea route from the Baltic to the mediterranean and to Asia. Furthermore, some important European rivers come to the North sea through The Netherlands. This Northern land would be Artic if the gulf stream did not warm it. Thanks to the temperate climate the ports never freeze over.
Here at the crossroads of sea and rivers, in the heart of industrial Europe, the Germanic tribe of the Dutch have built a prosperous nation. Americans who still think of our country as a quaint little land of Hans Brinker are behind the times. It is like believing that the United Atates is filled with Indians and cowboys.
The Netherlands did not always enjoy a fine location for trade and industry. In the time of the Romans 2000 years ago it lay at the very edge of the known world. The Romans who made the Rhine their northern boundary had little interests in the chilly marshes beyond. They established a string of forts between the delta arms to defend their frontier.
When the Roman legions withdrew and their empire collapsed in the fifth century, Germanic tribes seized the rich lands. The Franks settled south of the Rhine, the Saxons occupied the eastern lands north of the river. The Frisians kept to their coastal marshes in the west and north. All this happened some fiftheen hundred years ago, but to this very day local differences in speech and customs remind one where Franks, Frisians and Saxons settled. The standard Dutch language, as learned in the schools, is based on Frankish speech, but each part of the country has its own dialect. Frisian is the most distinct and is to be considered as a seperate language. Frisian is more related to English than to Dutch and German. People from other parts the Netherlands have great difficulties to understand Frisian.
From the North coast to the very south is only 150 miles, and from the North sea in the west to the German border only 100 miles. You could get in a car at from Rotterdam and have your first coffee break in Germany.Tiny Netherlands, only 100 by 150 miles, packs in enough variety of landscapes, towns, villages, customs, dialects, not to forget the surviving of windmills and wooden shoes.
The province of Friesland is the only part where Frisian language survived to this very day. The province of Groningen is a mixure of Saxons and Frisians but it is definetely Saxon by speech. The provinces Drenthe, Overijssel and Gelderland are old saxon territory. The province of Overijssel (my home ) means; across the IJssel, a small arm of the Rhine. The western provinces Utrecht, North and Douth Holland where areas Frisians and Franks mingled, but nevertheless Frankish. The southern tier of provinces are mainly Frankish in tradition: Zeeland (Sealand) with its islands, North Brabant and Limburg. In Belgium, there are also large community of Dutch-speaking people. They are related to us Dutch by blood, language and traditions. They are Frankish in speech, and in French-speaking part of Belgium, in Wallonia, there are also small communities of Flemish,and ofcourse in Northern France, in the district of North-Pas-De Calais, or, as we called French or Southern France, Picardia and Artesia. Especially in the district of Dunkerque (Duinkerken), the so-called Westhoek, there is still a billangual Flemish community.
One shall not forget that Dutch and Flemish are close related relatives, but there are also differences. The white people of South Africa, the Afrikaners, are of mainly Dutch origin, and close related to us by race, blood and language. The Dutch and Flemish themselves are related with North Germans by blood, culture, traditions and dialects, Both are low-Germans.