Hattem - Hanzestad

Hattem in province Gelderland, obtained city rights in 1299 and it is surrounded by gorgeous nature. It is situated in the Veluwe area, well known for the wonderful hikes and cycling routes.

Hasselt - Hanzestad

Hasselt in the Dutch province of Overijssel received city rights in 1252 and became a member of the Hanseatic League around 1350.

Elburg - Hanzestad

Elburg is a municipality and a city in the province of Gelderland. The city was recorded as a member of the Hanseatic League and before the closing off of the Zuiderzee was a prosperous  fishing village with access to the North Sea.

Münster

It was in Münster/Germany where the Peace of Westphalia was signed in 1648.

This agreement ended the "Eighty Years' War" or Dutch War of Independence (1568–1648), a revolt of the Seventeen Provinces of what are today the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg against Spain.

WinterWelVaart - Groningen

On the last weekend before Christmas, the people of Groningen organize the atmospheric WinterWelvaart event.
Groningen with its century old Hanzestad warehouses becomes more photogenic than ever. Intimate concerts, exhibitions, performances and a cozy Christmas market.

Dickensfestijn Deventer

This two-day event has been held since 1991 on the weekend before Christmas in the medieval Bergkwartier in the old Hanseatic sector of Deventer. 

Volunteers play hundreds of characters from the books of Charles Dickens (1807-1870), such as Scrooge, Oliver Twist, Mr. Pickwick, Christmas Carol singers, orphans, drunks, artisans and many other poor and wealthy people. The Dickens Festijn is visited annually by about 120,000 people. There are also many foreign visitors, especially from Germany.

Entrance for the festival is free.

Terschelling - Wadden Sea

Terschelling a.k.a the Pearl of the Wadden sea is famous for its pristine nature and its extensive network of cycling paths. Terchelling is also a Unesco natural reserve of great natural beauty and is part of UNESCO's World Heritage Natural sites. 

Willem Barentsz one of the greatest Dutch navigators and Arctic explorers was born in Terschelling.

Joep Beving, from backyard pianist to Spotify star.

Joep Beving from Gelderland was an amateur Dutch musician until his music got published on Spotify. 

His album Solipsism has already reached 85 million on-line streams.

Dutch youngster takes on the oceans' plastic soup

Boyan Slat from Delft is a young Dutch scientist/entrepreneur who has come up with an innovative solution to clean up the oceans from the 'plastic-soup'.

Netherlands in 26 iconic objects

In 'The Netherlands in 26 iconic objects' Dutch writers are given the task of writing a short text about an object that is quintessentially Dutch. 
From beer bikes to crockets and from garden gnomes to stroopwafels this is a book about everyday objects and how they capture the Dutch mentality. (buy it here)

Maasvlakte 2

Maasvlakte 2 is the latest extension for the Port of Rotterdam. Built on reclaimed land, it's a fully automated container terminal, powered by wind-generated electricity. 

A true engineering marvel!

De Hoge Veluwe National Park

This stunning time-lapse was captured by 22 years old student Rick Kloekke who filmed for a year the change of seasons in Hoge Veluwe National Park.

LoRa van KPN

From Schipol's buggage handling to Rotterdam port's depth sounders and Utrecht's rail switches low-energy and low-data sensors are taking advantage of KPN's IoT LoRa Network.

These sensors generate a massive wealth of data/info that can be used to optimize operations or sense the environment. LoRa started as a pilot in 2015 and went officially live on a national scale this week. 
Milk cows are soon to join the network. Sensors will be sending infologs about their health, performance and whereabouts.

Schiedam

Part of Rotterdam's metropolitan area, the city of Schiedam is the capital of Jeniver (gin) production. Schiedam is how the English and the French call gin. The city was an industrial powerhouse during the 18th and 19th century nicknamed Zwart Nazareth (Black Nazareth) due the smog of surrounding distilleries and glasswork factories. Harr Wiegman created the cartoon character Proosje Van Schiedam in 1975 to mark the 700 years of Schiedam. 

Hugo Grotius

On the left side of Rotterdam's Townhall seats the statue of Hugo Grotius (or Hugo de Groot). Born in Delft, he was a prodigy child that mastered Latin and Greek early at his age. Hugo served as a pensionery (mayor) of Rotterdam in 1613 and he is the founder of International Law.

Dutch courage a.k.a. Jenever

Dutch courage is what English soldiers dubbed the gin-induced bravery they observed on their Dutch peers during the anglo-dutch wars. 
Jenever or Dutch Gin further spread as a spirit of preference after the Dutch Prince William of Orange succesfully invaded England in 1688. This invasion secured the Glorious Revolution and strengthened English parliamentary democracy.

Kralingen Music Festival 1970

Kralingen music festival - held in namesake park of Rotterdam - was Europe's response to Woodstock. It stood out as the first open air multiday festival in Europe. It signaled the beginning of Dutch authorities' tolerance towards soft drugs.

About the Dutch cyclepaths

The unique Dutch cycling culture and Netherland's extensive network of cyclepaths are rooted in the oil crisis of the 70's, a high number of bike accidents and citizens rallying for less motorized cities.

R'dam - Port of 2050

Port of Rotterdam has a goal to become a 100% sustainable port cluster by 2050. On its way to ‘circular port economy’ it will start gradually capturing and streaming CO2 emissions to regional greenhouses (CO2 accelerates plants' growth). The Port is also offering docking discounts to vessels using clean fuels (e.g. LPG). Being a massive oil refinary PoR is planning to swap fossil feedstocks with vegetable products (sugar beets for instance) to further reduce it carbon footprint.

[more >here<]

Amersfoort

Amersfoort is a medieval city famous for its Koopelpoort gate (awarded the Europa Nostra Award in 1992) nicknamed Keistad (boulder-city). 

Legend has it that in 1661 400 people had to drag a 9-tonne boulder from the moors to the city after their landlord lost a bet to another landlord. Since then citizens of Amersfoort have been taunted as Keientrekkers (boulder-draggers). The boulder is nowdays in public display.