A rivier is a river. The largest rivers in the Netherlands are the Rhine ("Rijn"), Scheldt ("Schelde"), and Meuse ("Maas"). Rivers have always been an important mode of transportation in the Netherlands. Many prosperous cities can be found near rivers. People traveled on rivers in trekschuiten (pulled barges). Emigrants from other parts of Europe used rivers to come to the Netherlands; either to settle, or as transients on their way to America. For example, the Rhine river brought many … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Polder
5 September 2016 by Leave a Comment
A polder is a section of land that was claimed from the sea or marsh. This was traditionally done by building a dike around it the land and draining the water using mills. A polder will typically have many drainage canals crisscrossing the landscape. … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Hollandse Waterlinie
25 July 2016 by Leave a Comment
De Hollandse Waterlinie (Holland Water Defense) was a uniquely Dutch defense system that combined large-scale inundations with strategically placed forts. In times of war, large sections would be inundated to prevent an approaching army from reaching the rich cities of the province of Holland. Some smaller scale inundations had been used in the Eighty Years War (1568-1648) but in 1672, when the Netherlands was at war on three fronts, the larger scale defense line that became known as the … [Read more...]
