Lente or voorjaar is the Dutch word for Spring.
Spring was traditionally the time for sowing the crops for the coming season. Work contracts were often renewed in Spring as well. This is the reason why so many farmers got married in May. They’d serve their contract out and then start their own farm and family.
March. Image credits: Koninklijke Bibliotheek
About Yvette HoitinkYvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer in the Netherlands. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certification of Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials. Yvette served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professional Genealogists and won excellence awards for her articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. Yvette has been doing genealogy for over 30 years. She helps people from across the world find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. Read about Yvette's professional genealogy services.
Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer from the Netherlands who helps people find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certified Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials.
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Not only work contracts got renewed in the spring but May 1st was traditionally in Amsterdamthe day that house rents started. So, many families moved around the city to re-settle in a new house. This mostly applies to the 19th and early 20th century.
As it was customary in the 1930s that the landlord apllied new wallpaper to an appartment in Amsterdam, people often relocated when they thought the old appartment was starting to look shabby.
One urban legend has it that my grandfather once got home from work to eat his lunch at home to find a note from his wife that she found a new appartment and that he had to go to a different address. Quite different times from nowadays where people can easily wait ten years to find a decent and affordable apprtment in Amsterdam.