2024-10-03 06:46:59
In the west of our neighboring country the celebrations also take place on October 3rd. The siege of Leiden ended 450 years ago. Rembrandt’s hometown is home to the country’s oldest university. And this is where the first speculative bubble in history occurred.
On October 3rd everything is different in Leiden. So the inhabitants of the Dutch city celebrate a holiday that dates back to an epochal history. From early in the morning thousands of people will be queuing in front of the old city scales.
The historic building houses a restaurant. Usually croquettes, cheese plates and other tasty things are served here. But on October 3rd everyone just wants bread and herring. If city dignitaries think the herring is good, then manager Jip Hoogland opens the door. However, only people from Leiden will receive assistance and only if they have registered.
Edo Elstak also has a tight schedule on this day. Not because he leads guests through suffering as he usually does, but because he wants to properly celebrate this local holiday. Early in the morning it is dressed in the colors of the city: red and white.
Then there is singing, in the town hall to the sound of fanfares, in a park and during the service in the Pieterskerk, the central church of Leiden. Only then does Elstak enjoy the bread with two herrings, obviously for historical reasons.
The end of a siege
The reason why all of Leiden regularly goes wild on October 3rd and is particularly emotional this year can be explained by an event that happened 450 years ago: on the same day in 1574 the Spanish besiegers withdrew – William I, Prince of Orange, did the dams near Rotterdam breached. The wind pushed the water towards Leiden and the Spaniards got their feet wet.
During the siege, approximately 6,000 people of Leiden died, a third of the population, and many died of starvation. Now the Wassergeusen, who fought alongside William of Orange for the independence of the Netherlands, moved into the city and distributed bread and herring. Leiden residents could also enjoy a large pot of hutspot, a dish made with carrots, onions and parsnips.
According to legend, an orphan boy found the vase outside the city gates, the Spaniards had forgotten it during their hasty escape; The dish is still traditionally eaten on October 3rd.
The night before, “all Leiden smells like Hutspots,” says tour guide Elstak. Except that parsnips have now been replaced by potatoes, which were still unknown in the Netherlands at the time.
Pioneer of Leiden University
Yet you shouldn’t necessarily visit Leiden on October 3. The city’s oft-praised “Old Dutch” charm, nicknamed “Little Amsterdam”, is easiest to discover on any of the other 364 days of the year. For example during a boat trip on the canals which lasts almost an hour and you have to keep your head down due to the many bridges.
Or you can join a guided tour of Edo Elstak. “Nothing is far away in Leiden,” says the 75-year-old. His path takes him beyond college, among other places. If you believe a story they like to tell in Leiden, then the inhabitants of Leiden were allowed to choose as thanks for their successful resistance against the Spanish: either a long-term tax exemption or a university.
The story is beautiful, Elstak also thinks, yet it was more likely that William of Orange needed well-trained officials. And that the new Protestant faith needed theologians to proclaim it. There was also a shortage of medically trained workers in those days.
In any case, on February 8, 1575, Leiden University was founded, the first in the Netherlands. And since doctors needed medicinal plants, a botanical garden was soon created – another investment for the future, as we would later see.
The first speculative bubble
Among the scholars who responded to the university’s appeal was Carolus Clusius, the most famous botanist of his time. In October 1593 he arrived in Leiden with a rarity in his luggage: tulip bulbs. The tulips, originally from countries such as Kazakhstan, arrived in Vienna via Turkey. Clusius met her there. Now he has led them to suffering.
In the spring of 1594 the first tulip bloomed, streaked with red and yellow. It was named “Sommerschön”, says Carla Teune. The 81-year-old has worked in the Botanical Gardens for 57 years, now as a volunteer: there is probably no more experienced tour guide in the Netherlands.
The tulip began its triumphant march from Leiden. In a short time, striped tulips became a sought-after commercial item. Prices reached astronomical levels; a single onion cost as much as an entire house. In February 1637 the overheated market collapsed: the end of “tulip mania”, the first speculative bubble in economic history.
The tulip remains, a symbol of Holland like the windmill or cheese. From late March to mid-May, the splendor of the flowers attracts around 1.4 million people to the Keukenhof near Leiden. The tulip has also found its way into art; examples can be studied in the Mauritshuis in nearby The Hague.
Rembrandt was not a fan of tulips
Of all people, Leiden’s most famous painter largely ignored the tulip: Rembrandt. The house in which he was born, the ninth son of a miller, was located a few meters to the right of the building, where today a commemorative plaque commemorates him. But the Latin school where the young Rembrandt made his first sketches is still there. And also the house where Jacob van Swanenburgh, his first teacher, lived.
Today it hosts the “Young Rembrandt Studio”, in which a 3D video illuminates the most important stages in the life of the young Rembrandt in just seven minutes. At the age of 25 he moved to Amsterdam. Some of his works can be seen in the “De Lakenhal” museum. It is just one of 13 museums in Leiden. Bad weather is not a reason not to go to Leiden. We’re just waiting for October 3rd.
Advice and information
Destination: Leiden is located between Amsterdam and The Hague, not far from the North Sea.
Best time to travel: All year round, unless you want to see the tulips in bloom at Keukenhof (late March to mid-May).
I arrive: Good connection to the railway network. It only takes about 20 minutes from Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport, 30 kilometers away. By car it takes seven to eight hours from Berlin, five and a half hours from Hamburg and around ten hours from Munich.
Activity: Cost of guided group walks starting from 125 euros; also a special “3. Tour of October 1574” is on offer. If you want to walk alone, you can buy thematic brochures to orient yourself at the VVV tourist office. Cost of one hour electric boat tour “Boats and Sandwiches«Regularly 12.50 euros per person (children: 7.50 euros). Another provider of city tours on the water is, for example Canal tour.
Further information: visitleiden.nl
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