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Holland: culture and traditions


Image by Ansgar Scheffold from Pixabay
The 27th April is the Netherlands' king's birthday, the national day of the Netherlands. To celebrate this day, I've found ten fascinating facts about the Netherlands. 

1. The Netherlands is the 6th happiest country in the world, according to the World
Happiness Report. I'm sure all teens will agree with me when I say teenage years are far from easy, but Dutch adolescents are ranked among the least stressed in the world. This is even more surprising when compared to other developed countries in Europe, where depression and suicide rates are increasing. So why are the Dutch so happy? According to de Roos, from the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP), it is as simple as maintaining positive surroundings, in school, home, and with people. Also, Dutch children are more likely to eat breakfast, less likely to be overweight and less likely to have had underage sex. Children have more freedom and independence from their parents, allowing them to build their character for themselves.

2. Smoking is illegal in indoor public places in Amsterdam, unless you're smoking pure marijuana.

Image by ctvgs from Pixabay 
3. The Dutch still play traditional sports, such as Fierljeppen. Originally used by farmers to cross the many waterways that populate Friesland, it is now a popular competition that attracts tourists from across the world. The sport involves using a pole (8 to 13 metres long) with a circular plate on one end, that is placed in the river/canal. Competitors must sprint to the pole and then climb to the top to force it forwards, before landing on the opposite side of the waterway. The winner is the one who travels the furthest, Jaco de Groot holding the record at 22.21 metres.

4. Holland is famous for its flowers. Royal Flora Holland, most known for its roses, tulips, and Chrystants, has an annual turnover of 12.1 billion euros, with over 100,000 transactions per day. The Dutch flower auctions are most certainly something worth watching.

5. Believe it or not, some of the best electronic music is from the Netherlands. Electronic music is very popular with the Dutch, as proved by the annual Amsterdam dance event. This is one of the biggest electronic dance festivals, held in October, that lasts for five days. Over 2,500 artists feature every year, with more than 400,000 people attending.

Starry Night by Van Gogh
6. Holland is home to infamous artist Vincent Van Gogh, who completed 2,100 paintings in his life, despite his teacher telling him his artwork was 'unconventional'. His most famous painting is Starry Night, though only after his suicide did his work gain popularity. Interestingly, a grasshopper got caught in one of his pieces, and remained frozen there for around a century!


7. During the Golden Age (1609-1713) organs were banned in church services. Calvinists, the predominant religious group at the time, disliked music as they saw it as unnecessary. No organs were played during the services of Reformed churches, though the instruments were used for other events.

Photo by Olenka Sergienko from Pexels
8. Most Dutch companies give their workers gifts (usually a basket of food) every Christmas, known as Kerstpakket, to show their gratification. This tradition is thought to originate from farms, where workers were gifted food for their families.

9. The Dutch have several unique Christmas traditions, as well as Christmas food. As well as spiced treats commonly found in the western world such as fruit loaf (Kerststol) and mulled wine (Bischopswijn), some of their traditional sweets are more unusual. One example is egg-yolk liqueur, known as advocaat. Another example is Kerstkransjes, 'wreath cookies', which can be hung on the Christmas tree. 

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