Archive for the ‘Culture’ Category
“Noaberschap” or the value of good neighbors
Monday, January 10th, 2011
Dutch dirt road, by Meindert Hobbema, 1665.
Photograph Wikimedia Commons
When our first son was born, the neighbors treated us to a huge stork, balloons and other baby decorations that they put up in our garden as a surprise. A week later, all the ladies came to see the little guy at an event specific to the Twente region, called “kroamschudden”, which is pretty much like a baby shower. Since I am not from this part of the country, all this was new to me. Later I learned that this tradition is a remnant of what is called “noaberschap”.
“Noaberschap” was used to refer to a tight community of neighbors, mostly in rural areas. The members of such a community were called “naobers” and they all shared a community commitment called “noaberplicht” (neighbor duty). This “noaberplicht” obliged you to help other members of the community when they were in need. “Noabers” would help out at births, weddings and deaths, for example. They would report a death or a birth to the authorities, arrange festivities for the married couple, take care of each others’ home when someone had to leave town for a while, etcetera.
Living in a community did not automatically make you a member of the “naoberschap”. Once settled in their home, newcomers were expected to invite all neighbors they could see from their home and offer them to become mutual “noabers”. This offer could be accepted or rejected, for example if it was clear that you could not get along or because somebody already had accepted too many “noabers” to realistically be able to comply to the duties.
The person living closest to you usually became your most important “noaber”, and was therefore called “noaste noaber”. This would be your first contact in times of need. They would watch your home when you were not around, report your child’s birth to the authorities, make arrangements for funerals, etcetera. And you of course, would do the same thing for them.
Moving town did not relief you of your “noaber” duties if you did not explicitly terminate the agreement with all of your “noabers”. Some people kept their “noabers” even from far away, not so much out of practical reasons but because of the symbolic value of it. After all, a “noaber” was one of the few persons that you could rely on and often they became very close friends.
Today, “noaberschap” is rare and only occurs in remote towns of the northeastern parts of the Netherlands. However, in the 1700s and 1800s it was very common in these rural areas. This is not surprising when considering the deplorable state of the roads at that time and the lack of social security offered by the government.
Up until the 1850s the Netherlands’ only roads were dirt roads. Much of the country lies below sea level or was occupied by large swamps. Once the wet weather would set in (usually from September until March), most roads became useless. The western part of the country relied heavily on towing barges in the wet months, as long as the canals were not frozen. The northern and eastern part of the country, however, did not have a network of towing barges. As a result, most villages were cut off from other towns in the wet months. During that time, the communities had to rely primarily on themselves. “Noaberschap” was an excellent way to ensure that the poor, the elderly, the sick and anyone else in distress was properly looked after in a time when the government offered little to no help.
Sometimes, you can see traces of “noaberschap” on Dutch vital records. When you come across a birth or death reported to somebody other than a close relative, chances are they were a “noaber”…
Proposing with Windmill Cookies
Friday, November 19th, 2010
Photograph Wikimedia Commons
Last Saturday, Saint Nicholas came to our town. The kids were all excited because this means three weeks of eager anticipation counting down to December 5. The highlights during these weeks are the nights that they are allowed to put their shoe, so Saint Nicholas’ magical helpers —known as “Zwarte Pieten”— can fill them with candy and a small toys.
The candy that goes into the shoe is not just any candy, but special Saint Nicholas candy that can usually only be bought in November and early December. There are “schuimpjes” –a sort of meringues– in the shape of carrots, horses and Saint Nicholas, chocolate coins, “pepernoten” – a sort of spicy mini cookies–, and of course “speculaas” which is also known as windmill cookies.
Last year, we dedicated an article to “pepernoten”. This year I want to tell you about some peculiarities of “speculaas”.
“Speculaas” is made of flour, dark brown sugar, butter and a special spice mix made of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamon, and white pepper. The dough is then either rolled out and cut into rectangular pieces or it is formed into cookies with a mold. Nowadays, most molds for the export have the image of a windmill, however. Traditionally, the image can be anything. Long ago, the image of a man or woman was popular for a very specific reason: they were used to propose to a girl!
The feast of Saint Nicholas follows the traditional fall fair that used to be held in most villages at the end of October. The most famous being that of Tiel. At the fair the so-called fair cake was sold, made of the new harvest of rye and honey. The fair was the place to meet teenage boys and girls from other towns and hence popular to flirt and find a suitable future spouse. To reveal his feelings for a girl, a boy would buy her a fair cake. If she offered him a slice that meant she was willing to become his wife.
“Speculaas” dolls had the same function. If a young man wanted to propose to a girl, he would give her a “speculaas” doll, called a “vrijer” (meaning “lover”). Accepting the doll meant accepting the marriage proposal. Today, the tradition has virtually died out. But who knows, maybe your great-grandfather still proposed to your great-grandmother with a “vrijer” instead of a ring…
Want to try baking some windmill cookies yourself? Just take the dough from the “pepernoten” recipe mentioned above, and form it into cookies instead of little balls.
Want to know more about the Saint Nicholas tradition? Read our article on the origin of Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus.
Enjoy!
Feasts of Light
Thursday, October 14th, 2010
Halloween pumpkin
Photograph Wikimedia Commons
Each year, more and more Dutch celebrate their own version of Halloween. They have imported the tradition from the United States. Since it is not a Dutch tradition in itself, most Halloween parties are kept by students and young people who enjoy the dressing up and scary jokes. However, typically, kids do not come at your door for candy.
The origin of Halloween is not completely certain but many attribute it to the Celtic Samhain feast that celebrates the end of summer. The British and Irish took their version of the feast to America. Samhain, however, is just one instance of a much broader tradition of celebrating the end of summer and the coming of winter. The thought that with winter, death and evil spirits come is also very old. It probably goes back to very early Germanic roots.
All over Europe, feasts of light emerged long before Christianity existed. In the Low Lands with its strong Germanic roots, these feasts involved lot of lights, noise and food (for offerings and for consuming). Celebrations over the good harvest mixed with rites to scare away the evil spirits of the dark winter. Over time these feasts became local rituals that differed from one region to another, but the main ingredients remained the same: light, noise, scaring of the evil and the dead, celebrating life.
When Christianity took hold of Europae, many of these local feasts were Christianized and conveniently linked to Christian saints, like Saint Nicholas and Saint Martin. Nowadays, some parts of the Netherlands (mainly the eastern provinces) still celebrate Saint Martin. Usually a lantern parade is held after which kids come to the door to sing a song in exchange for candy. This is a remnant of giving food and clothing to the poor for the winter (throwing candy at Saint Nicholas has the same roots!). Nowadays most lanterns are made of paper and a small electric light. However, in centuries gone by, the lanterns were made out of beets or turnips. Scary faces were carved into the lantern to scare of the evil spirits. Sounds familiar? Since turnips and beets were hard to come by for the early European settlers of the United States, they used local pumpkins instead.
So roughly, the Dutch had a feast of light very much like Samhain that over time became the feast of Saint Martin (November 11) and Saint Nicholas (December 5). The early Dutch settlers took both traditions to America. Later waves of British and Irish added their own autumn light traditions giving way to what is now know as Halloween.
