Friesland: Within the Netherlands But a Place Apart (Published 1976) (2024)

Mata Hari the femme fatale grew up here. So did Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch colonial administrator when New York City was New Amsterdam. Although Friesland lies within the boundaries of the Netherlands, its people speak a language of their own and when they refer to foreign visitors, they generally mean the Dutch.

Frisians regard themselves as Frisians first, Dutch second—if at all—and it's not just regional pride. They were the first settlers in the Netherlands. They did build its first dikes, fight its first battles (against the Romans). From their midst came the Nassau ancestors of the present Royal House of Orange‐Nassau. Their land may resemble the rest of the Netherlands—flat, crisscrossed by canals and dotted with windmills —but in this the most densely populated country in the world, the province of Friesland is uncrowded; there's much more greenery here, more bikes than automobiles on the roads.

Certainly anyone driving up to Friesland by the coastal auto route from Amsterdam feels he's driving into another country. The last 20 miles is along tha Afsluitdijk, or Enclosing Dam, a high‐oy over water. On the left is the North Sea; on the right the former Zuider now the lisselmeer, an artificial lake. Thirty years ago at the halfway point—when land disappears from view —Hitler's forces paused in their retreat to open up the sluices and flood the West Friesland polder.

The first city the motorist comes to after driving over the Afsluitdijk is Harlingen, cr “Harris” in Frisian, a stillfilactioning seaport, A handsome, salty North Sea community, Harlingen has well‐preserved 17th and 18th‐century buildings, some 500 of them in the old inner city. During the last week in August, the entire fishing fleet is in and flying all colors, including the Frisian cne‐the seven water‐lily pads in the flag symbolizing the free Seven Fris an Sealands of the Middle Ages. For four or five days visitars are welcome aboard the big ships and their skippers will take paying anglers and tourists out to sea. The Neptunus, a big‐windowed modern restaurant at harbor's edge, commands a view of the sea traffic. Outside the restaurant is a statue of the legendary Dutch boy who saved Holland by putting his thumb in a hole in the dike.

From Harlingen and other departure points the visitor can take a ferry to the islands of Ameland, Vlieland, Terschelling and Schiermonnikoog, stepping stones across Holland's northernmcst region. A million wild birds breed or live on the islands, and for six million rnigraezry birds they constitute the last safe stopover on Western Europe's flyway. People, not cars, are allowed on Vlieland; both cars and people are permitted on Terschelling but the locals are none too happy with the resultant summer‐resort ambience. Ferries from Harlingen leave three times a day for Vlieland an Terschelling, at 9:30 A.M., 2:30 and 5:15 P.M.; on Saturdays the ferry leaves for Vlieland only, at 8:30 A:M., 1:30 and 5:15 P.M. Fare for the 90‐minute trip about $6 round trip, half that for children under 12. Ameland, which can be reached by boat from Holwerd (fare about $2), has a lighthouse that commands a panoramic view of the surrounding area. Boats leave daily from Lauwersoog for Schiermonnikoog, also an island for pedestrians, at 6:45 and 9:10 A.M. and at 2 and 4:50 P.M. Fare is about $2, half price for children.

In the summertime in the surrounding waters, called the Wadden Zee, ferryboat riders are likely to see seals splashing around, an occasional dolphin—and an occasional hiker as well. That's right, hiker, rucksack on back, walking past the ferry. What he's doing is known as wadlopen or wad walking: At low tide a wadloper can traverse the soggy tidal flats between the mainland and the islands. Wadlopers need a knowledge of the tides, a map of the sandbars, a compass, sneakers, a light windbreaker, food and water, a life preserver … and a guide.

From Harlingen it is about a 15‐minute drive to Leeuwarden, the provincial capital and commercial hub. The air along the way is sweet. Looking around, one can see why affluent Dutch, tired of the tourist invasion in the south, take their sailboats up to Friesland's lakes, or come foraging for summer homes to buy.

People are few along the road. Green pastureland rolls past on either side. Black‐and‐white Frisian cows and stublegged ponies share the pasture with sheep and mallards, mute swans, gray herons, stilts and lapwings by the tens cf thousands. Every year in late March or early April, boys are out with pol stors, long poles, vaulting over moats and water ditches in search of lapwing eggs. In the summer, fishermen take over in pursuit of bream and pike.

The flatness of the land is relieved by windmills, church steeples and “head‐neck‐trunk” farmhouses of brick with thatched roofs. The head of these farm buildings is the living quarters, the neck the narrow passageway where cheese used to be made (nowadays these are spare rooms; most farmers deliver the raw materials to giant local cheese factories for processing), the trunk the big barn and working area. Six miles east of Harlingen is Franeker, a moated city famed for its pianetarium. Built 200 years ago in the living room of Eise Eisinga, a wool comber known as “the Frisian Einstein,” the planetarium is in excellent operating condition. Open, except Sunday, from 9 to noon, and 2 to 5; admission about 40 cents, half price for children under 12. The town's handsome Stadhuis, or City Hall, was built around 1600; the local V.V.V. (tourist office) will usually arrange for you to see the interior.

About 10 miles east of Franeker loom high‐rise apartment towers on the outskirts of Leeuwarden (in Frisian it's Ljouwert). Across from the city's Renaissance Chancellory is the Frisian Museum, housed in an 18th‐century building. On display the work of goldand silversmiths; a portrait by Rembrandt of his wife,.Saskia, who was the daughter of a Frisian burgomaster; portrait and landscape paintings by Frisian artists; Makkum ceramics, considered the equal of Delftware. The museum is open daily from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M., Sundays from 1 to 5 P.M. Admission about 40 cents, half price for children.

The binnenstad, Leeuwarden's ancient inner city, has tree‐lined canals, gabled houses and stone bridges. The small antique shops are all here. So is the house, on Grote Kerkstraat 28, where Margreet Zelle, known to the world as Mata Hari, spent her childhood days. A celebrated dancer and courtesan who was the toast of Europe, Mata Hari was tried as a German spy and executed in Vincennes, France, in 1917. The house is currently undergoing restoration and will be opened as an extension of the Frisian Literary Musaum. Mat?. Hari's birthplace is at Kelders 33, now a housewares end china shop—Niemeijer's—on the street level, with a millinery and clothing store above it. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mata Harrs birth this year, a sculpture of the dancer has been erected outside the shop.

The inner city's little cobbled “hills” are the tops of terps—earth mounds about nine feet above sea level that were built as far back as 500 B.C. In land that was entirely tidal marsh then, the people lived cn the terps, sate from flceds. It was from such terps—Leeu\vardrn has three, all within the old city —that the first Dutch dikes were eventeolly mtended around A.D. 1000.

The most startling sight in Leeuwarden is Oldchove, the leaning tower a memorial to an unsuccessful experiment. In the late Middle Ages, to see if heavy buttresses would help in building on soncl. Visitors can saicly climb the 120‐foot‐high brick churchtower seemingly frozen in the act of collapse. Coen through September, 10 A.M. to noon, 2 to 5 P.M., Mondays through Saturdays, 2 to 5 only on Sundays. Admission about 40 cents, half price for children under 12.

On Fridays there's a year‐round outdoor market on the Zaailand, a short walk from Nieuwstad, Leeuwarden's main shopping street. The size of baseball field, the market is packed from S A.M. to 4 P.M. with shoppers. ere unpainted wooden shoes, called rlompen, cost about $4 a pair for adults (painters, aboat $6). Many Frisians still wear wooden shoes, sometimes 1 with business suit and tie. The antiques at the market are still a bargain and so is the cheese: Edams and Goudas and Frisian nagelkaas, or “nail” cheese, the “nails” being cloves. Far cheaper is the delicious kruidkoek, or herb cake, at about 75 cents a loaf.

Traveling in a northeasterly dlrection from Leeuwarden, the motorist will in about 15 minutes, arrive at the walled city of Dokkum, which has one of the most perfectly preserved old skylines in the Netherlands, including a 17th century Stadhuis, thanks to careful zoning laws. At the town ramparts are two windmills. About 20 miles southeast at Dokkum is the town of Bakkeveen, near which is the fort, dating back to 1593, that Peter Stuyvesant used as a model when he built a fort, the Battery, in New Amsterdam.

From Dokkum it's about a half‐hour drive south to Sneek, a summer yachting center known for its Waterpoorl. or Watergate, a fortified entranceway to the town built around 1613. From July 2 to 17 there will be skutsje rac ing on the nearby lake, the Sneekermeer. Skutsjes are big‐sailed, roundbottomed Frisian freightboats that ply the waters throughout the year with cargoes of beer kegs and farm produce. Racing skutsjes resemble a Viking flotilla on maneuvers. From Aug. 7 to 12 regattas will be held on the Sneekermeer, the main event on the 11 th.,Visitors may board a sightseeing boat to watch the race or catch a ferry to the “starting island,” where the judges view the race.

Driving farther south the motorist comes to Sloten, the tiniest of Friesland's eleven old cities (pop. 800). There are only two streets on either side of its canal, but Sloten is walled and boasts a moat, a restored grain‐grinding windmill, a 17th‐century church and a smallscale version of Sneek's watergate.

Along Friesland's western coastline Hindeloopen, a city famed for its handpainted furniture, some of which is on display in the Hidde Nijland Museum. Open through mid‐October from 9 A.M. to noon, 1:30 to 5, Sundays and holidays from 1:30 to 5 only. Admission about 40 cents, half price for children under 12. Once a thriving seaport, Hindeloopen is cut off from the sea by the Afsluitdijk. The town has ancient wooden bridges, old facades of houses once occupied by sea captains, workshops of wood painters.

There are a number of Elf Steden Tcchts, Eleven Cities Tours, held year round by car, bike, bus, boat and, in winter, on skates. The route includes the seven cities already mentioned, as well as the towns of Ijlst. Stsverte. Work= and Bolsward.

A leisurely Elf Steden Tocht for walkers is held each spring. Starting in Leeuwarden, the five‐day Wendeltocht attracts many Swiss and Germans, most of whom are repeaters. The walkers spend nights aboard boats that follow the course and the fee of about $40 covers food and lodging for the five days.

The annual one‐day Elf Steden Tocht by bicycle takes place each Whitsuntide, starting at Bolsward. Tomorrow, the annual turnout of about 6,000 gathers at 5 A.M. for the event. Visitors can rent a bike, equipped with lock, threespeed gear changer and an air pump, for about $1.50 a day (or $9.25 a week). Participants usually bring along a picnic lunch, perhaps a throwaway plastic raincoat in case it rains, as it often does in the Netherlands.

If You Go...

to Friesland, you don't necessarily need a car. Most cities are served by trains, and about $21 (and a passport photo) buys you a ticket good for eight days’ travel anywhere in the Netherlands. Leeuwarden is a two, and‐a‐half‐hour train ride north from Amsterdam. Bikes can be rented in many of the cities as well as on the islands. The local tourist office will be able to help you with names of bike rental agencies. While you are in the tourist office purchase a copy of “The 1975‐1976 Touristic Guide to Friesland,” which is available in an English‐German‐French edition (about 75 cents; the updated edition for this year appears only in Dutch). Although slightly dated (add 10 percent to quoted costs), the touristic guide includes a brief introduction to points of interest as well as a listing of hotels, youth hostels, restaurants, yachting camps. Prices of lodgings range from $6 to $20, double occupancy, breakfast usually included.

At the tourist office, you might want to get a Frisian “passport” (about $1.40)—a souvenir containing more data about Friesland as well as admission coupons to museums and monuments and discount vouchers to a guided bus tour of the Elf Steden (unfortunately not in English), ferry trips, restaurants and sports events like wadlopen.

Boating is popular in Friesland. You can rent a boat—sail or motor or both—in any of a hundred places. The prices range from $150 to $400 a week. There is a cruise, by clipper ship, through the waterways. Some sightseeing beats offer day‐long cruises. Inquire at any tourist office for details.

The local Chinese‐Indonesian restaurants offer budget dining. Rijstafel, an Indonesian dish composed of 20 delicacies usually served on separate tiny plates, is available served on one plate for about $2. Point on the menu to Nasi Raines (rice base) or Bami Rames (noodles). In Leeuwarden try the Peking; dinners, including drinks, about $10 for two. Better, slightly cheaper, but out of the way, is Sin Yah, near the south end of town on the long avenue called Schrans. About $9 for two.

For meals in the $4 to $7 range, there's the Cachot in Leeuwarden, which has a bistro atmosphere and a folksy international menu. At the tiny, charming Pannekoekhuisje in Leeuwarden, you can sample the Frisian pizza‐sized pancakes laced with bacon for about $1.50.

For more information on Friesland, write the Netherlands National Tourist Office, 576 Fifth Avenue, New York 10017 (tel: 212245‐5320). —P.M.