The Holland Ring

IMAGINE...
You may say I'm a dreamer...
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us...
and the World will live as One
John Lennon.

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Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken: reisadviezen

Dutch Clubs
Weet U een Nederlandse Club/Vereniging in uw omgeving... laat het mij weten!

Immigrating/Remigrating
... with links for parents and books.

Intersting Links

Dutch Goodies
- Where to find those Goodies from Holland!?

The Netherlands
- Some history and general information

Dutch-American History
The two countries have a much greater common history than many people know.

Dutch Culture and Folklore
Our Cheese, greetings, gestures, tulips, birthdays, christmas and much more...

Dutch Folklore Costumes
- Costumes from the 12 Provinces.

Like to learn Dutch?
Dutch Course in 10 easy to follow lessons...

Dutch Food
- Habits and great food links.

Klompenmuseum
Gebr.Wietzes
- Largest wooden shoe museum in Europe. (dutch & english)

Queensday
- The Queen's official birthday (Koninginnedag) is a national holiday, which is celebrated by street parties and other events.

Sinterklaas
- All you want to know about Sinterklaas.

Elf Steden Tocht
- The Great Dutch Ice-Skating Marathon

Netherlands and WWII
- Links and info

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Labelled with ICRA!

The Tulip

When you think of The Netherlands, the first things that comes to mind are cheese, wooden shoes, windmills AND FLOWER BULBS.

The flower fields in the west of Holland are at their best in April and May. That’s when the spring bulbs, such as tulips and hyacinths are flowering. The cultivation of flower bulbs for commercial purposes started in Haarlem and the surrounding area about 400 years ago. The area between Haarlem and Leiden eventually became known as 'De bollenstreek' - the bulb district. For many years, a large part of the population earned their living from bulbs, whether in nurseries, export, or in industries that supplied the sector. The town of Lisse regarded itself as the centre of the bulb-growing area, boasted a postmark that declared: "Lisse, the centre of the bulb district". The famous flower exhibition "de Keukenhof" can be found here.

The Netherlands produce approximately nine billion flower bulbs annually. Evenly distributed, this number would allow for almost two flower bulbs for every person on the planet.

The tulip remains the most popular and recognizable bulb flower. Most people think of the tulip when they think of bulb flowers. The tulip is followed in popularity by the daffodil, the gladiolus, the lily and the crocus.

The tulip, has been the cause of a major financial crisis in the Netherlands only a few decades after it was introduced in our regions at the end of the 16th century. It originally came from eastern Mediterranean regions, which at that time -- a very prosperous time in The Netherlands -- were the source of many exotic products. For the rich and the famous the tulip was a status symbol. The popularity of the tulip soared and soon the demand skyrocketed. In 1636, people started using the tulip to speculate with, indebting themselves to buy the bulbs at very high prices and selling them for even higher ones. Prices went as high as the prices of big houses along the canals in Amsterdam. Nowadays one floor in such a house already costs more than one million guilders.

Sometime in the year 1637, a Dutch farmer was in the market for a tulip. Upon finding a bloemist who carried the specific variety of flower that he desired, the farmer entered into negotiations with the flower-seller. When an agreement had been reached, the farmer acquired his flower-bulb. The purchase price that the farmer apparently deemed reasonable for a single tulip-bulb of the Viceroy variety included “two [loads] of wheat and four of rye, four fat oxen, eight pigs, a dozen sheep, two oxheads of wine, four tons of butter, a thousand pounds of cheese, a bed, some clothing and a silver beaker.” Such a high price, estimated at approximately 2,500 guilders, for a single tulip was not unusual. During the height of the Dutch ‘tulip mania’ in the seventeenth century, a Semper Augustus, considered to be even more precious than the Viceroy tulip, could bring in close to 6,000 guilders.

In fact, tulip prices and the practice of tulip speculation became so excessive and frenzied that in 1637 the States of Holland passed a statute curbing such extremes. The reversal of their fortune was reached on February 3rd 1637, when for the first time, a collection of very exclusive tulips remained unsold. Other cases followed and the speculative bubble was quickly pierced.

Typical Dutch view - Tulips and grazing cows...

Widely available at modest prices today, tulips are still closely associated with the Netherlands. However, the tulip is not a native Dutch flower. Like many other products in western Europe, such as the potato and tobacco, tulips came to the Netherlands from another part of the world.
Not introduced to the Netherlands until 1593, the tulip was first seen by Europeans in Turkey. It was there in 1556 that Busbeq (A.G. Busbequius), the ambassador sent by the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, witnessed the flowers growing in the gardens of Adrianople and Constantinople. Scholars now believe that the Turks had been cultivating tulips as early as AD 1000. Most of these tulips probably originated in areas around the Black Sea, in the Crimea, and in the steppes to the north of the Caucasus.

Soon after Ambassador Busbeq noticed the flowers in the Ottoman Empire, tulips became one of the most sought after luxury items in Europe. At first, in the 1560s, trade and diplomatic interaction with the Ottoman Levant allowed for a small number of tulips to be imported into Hapsburg Europe. In this early stage, tulip ownership was primarily limited to wealthy nobles and scholars. Antwerp, Brussels, Augsburg, Paris, and Prague are among some of the cities where such tulips first began to circulate.

A key figure in the history of European tulip interest is the famous botanist Carolus Clusius. Clusius, who had achieved great recognition for his work with medicinal herbs in Prague and Vienna, accepted a position as head botanist of the Dutch university in Leiden in the year 1593. Previously, he had met with former Ambassador Busbeq in Vienna and accepted several tulip bulbs and seeds. At Leiden’s innovative hortus botanicus, or botanical garden, Clusius cultivated the bulbs and seeds and thus introduced the flower to Holland.

Through botanical experimentation, Clusius and other horticulturists produced new color variations in tulips. This breeding of tulips with new color combinations had two important effects on the European — primarily Dutch — tulip market. The most elegantly and vividly colored of the new tulips, such as the Semper Augustus, which was white with red flames, became exorbitantly priced. Only the wealthiest aristocrats and merchants could afford these striped hybrid varieties. By the early 1630s, however, flower growers had begun to raise vast crops of more simply-colored tulips. These flowers, such as the Yellow Crown tulips, could be purchased cheaply by even the poorer segments of society. With an ever-growing number of varieties and an ever-widening price range, tulips became one of the few luxury goods that could be purchased by members of all classes.

Tulip plants are allowed to flower for just 7 to 10 days before mechanical harvesters sever the flower stalks in order to preserve nutrients in the bulb. This seemingly heartless process also encourages plants to produce side bulbs for future crops.

The Dutch are very proud of their flower bulbs. Flower bulbs in the Netherlands are both a product and a passion. Each bulb, they like to say, holds a promise - a promise of a world alive with colour and good cheer, from the last snows of winter through the first frosts of autumn.

Keukenhof The aptly titled "greatest flowershow on earth" has taken place at the Keukenhof in Lisse, since 1949.

Flower Parade

Floriade: a fascinating, multifaceted experience!

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