Short Break in Enkhuizen with Gillian Hull
DURING A RETURN VISIT to one of our favourite small, Dutch towns we were delighted to rediscover its distinctive charm. After the Second World War, Holland took the decision to preserve the ancient centres of its towns and cities and restrict the burgeoning high-rise buildings to the outskirts. The cobbled streets, many for pedestrians only, and the rows of 16th and 17th century houses transport one back to a more peaceful and apparently unchanging world.
Enkhuizen was one of the principal ports when the huge ships of the Dutch East India Company entered the Zuider Zee, laden with luxury goods from the East Indies and elsewhere. In the late 17th century the Zuider Zee began to silt up, seriously damaging the town’s prosperity. This together with the severe storms which often battered the coast, flooding the sub-marine land, taxed the skills of the Dutch water engineers. Finally, in 1932, the Afsluitdijk, the barrier which keeps out the North Sea, was completed and the Zuider Zee became the Ijsselmeer.
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In the 17th century Enkhuizen’s population was 40,000 and it had the largest herring fleet in Holland. Huge shoals moved from the Baltic to the North Sea in the Middle Ages, and the Dutch discovered a method of curing the freshly caught fish. Today the delicacies are on sale in many of the town’s shops, stalls and restaurants, while traditional smokeries sell small eels, caught in the IJsselmeer’s fresh water. These also make a delicious snack; one removes the skin, and and savours the delicate flesh inside! Enkhuizen boasts a fascinating museum, part of which is housed in the old East India Company warehouse. Here there are displays of domestic life in towns and villages around the Zuider Zee and much information about ships and shipping, including a remarkable collection of ships in bottles. The ‘Buitenmuseum’ on the outskirts of the town has many beautifully reconstructed buildings from the area.
Enkhuizen has a handsome skyline with several stately towers and spires, which were beacons to the sailors as they battled with storms in the shallow Zuider Zee. Near the water is the impressive 16th century Dromedaristoren, once part of the town walls. On the water you will probably see traditional boats with red sails and barge boards; these help sailors maintain their course when the wind whips up the water. Enkhuizen is at one end of a dike completed in 1976. This is 32 kilometres long and links the town with Lelystad, built on reclaimed land in the late 1960’s. The original plan had been to reclaim the land to the south, but the conservationists feared for the country’s diminishing wildlife, and they won their argument. By driving over the dike one appreciates the extraordinary contrast between the new town made possible by skilful reclamation, and Enkhuizen which is steeped in history and tradition.
Take time to wander the streets of the old town, looking at the details of fine facades, such as the birthplace of 17th century artist Paulus Potter(see picture above). He is considered one of the most highly regarded painters of domestic animals which he depicted in the landscape close to his home. In the spring the sleek, healthy cattle still graze in intensely green fields not far from the town. One of our Dutch friends commented ‘We have reached the season when the grass seems to change straight into butter without the help of the cow’!
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