Stilt houses in prehistoric Europe

[Hevneren]

And the same goes for for instance for Amsterdam.

As the old song goes:

Amsterdam die mooie stad
is gebouwd op palen.
Als die stad eens ommeviel
wie zou dat betalen.

Amsterdam that beautiful city
has been built on stilts
And if the city would collapse
then who should be paying.

Yes, and an old saying goes: If you turn Amsterdam up-side-down, you'll have a Norwegian forest.

[The Lawspeaker]

Yes, and an old saying goes: If you turn Amsterdam up-side-down, you'll have a Norwegian forest.

And they are right. We imported wood from Norway and Sweden that was used for just about everything -- Norway's forests ended up on the other side of the globe as a Dutch East Indiaman. And not just that: I read somewhere that the Norwegians contributed on a genetic level as well with some Norwegians moving to Amsterdam looking for work or ship captains bringing home a cute Norwegian or Swedish girl.

[Johnston]

And they are right. We imported wood from Norway and Sweden that was used just about everything. And not just that: I read somewhere that the Norwegians contributed on a genetic level as well with some Norwegians moving to Amsterdam looking for work or ship captains bringing home a cute Norwegian or Swedish girl.

Norwegian Wood

[YOUTUBE]lY5i4-rWh44[/YOUTUBE]

[Hevneren]

And they are right. We imported wood from Norway and Sweden that was used for just about everything -- Norway's forests ended up on the other side of the globe as a Dutch East Indiaman. And not just that: I read somewhere that the Norwegians contributed on a genetic level as well with some Norwegians moving to Amsterdam looking for work or ship captains bringing home a cute Norwegian or Swedish girl.

Yes indeed, there was quite an extensive emigration of Norwegians to the Netherlands during the 1600's and 1700's. Norwegians were employed in the Dutch navy in considerable numbers, or as maids. I may be wrong, but I also believe some if not all of those who put the stilts of Norwegian timber underneath Amsterdam, were Norwegian themselves.

Here's a part from Wikipedia on Norwegians in the Netherlands:

Loosely estimated, some 10% of the population may have emigrated, in a period when the entire Norwegian population consisted of some 800,000 people.

The Norwegians left with the Dutch trade ships that when in Norway traded for timber, hides, herring and stockfish (dried codfish). Young women took employment as maids in Amsterdam. Young men took employment as sailors. Large parts of the Dutch merchant fleet and navy came to consist of Norwegians and Danes. They took Dutch names, so no trace of Norwegian names can be found in the Dutch population of today. One well-known illustration is that of Admiral Kruys. He was hired in Amsterdam by Peter I to develop the Russian navy, but was originally from Stavanger, Norway (Kruys means "cross", and the Russian maritime flag is today also a blue cross on white background).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegians#The_Netherlands

Cornelius Kruys/Cruys: