1.
Leeuwarden
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Leeuwarden is a city and municipality with a population of 108,249 in Friesland in the Netherlands. It is the capital and seat of the States of Friesland. The oldest remains of houses in the city back to the 2nd century AD. Leeuwarden has been inhabited since the 10th century. It was granted city privileges in 1435, the city was liberated from German occupation in World War II by The Royal Canadian Dragoons in 1945. It is the hub of the province of Friesland, situated in a green and water-rich environment, with lakes, villages. Leeuwarden is a royal residence and has a historic centre, many listed buildings. Leeuwarden has been awarded the title European Capital of Culture 2018, one important cultural and historical event is the Elfstedentocht, an ice skating-tour of eleven cities in Friesland, starting and finishing in Leeuwarden. Besides the city of Leeuwarden, population centres in the municipality with a population of 1,000 or more are Grou, Goutum, Wergea, Jirnsum, Reduzum, and Wirdum. The municipality is governed by the mayor Ferd Crone and a coalition of the Labour Party, Christian Democratic Appeal, and PAL-GroenLinks. The name Leeuwarden first came into use for Nijehove, the most important of the three villages that merged into one, namely Oldehove and Hoek in the early 9th century. There is much uncertainty about the origin of the citys name, historian and archivist Wopke Eekhoff summed up a total of over 200 different spelling variants, of which Leeuwarden, Liwwadden, and Ljouwert are still in use. The second syllable is easily explained, Warden, Frisian/Dutch for an artificial dwelling hill, is a designation of terps, the first part of the name, leeuw, means lion in modern standard Dutch. This interpretation corresponds with the coat of arms adopted by the city, however, modern standard Dutch was not used in this region in the Middle Ages, when the city was called Lintarwrde. Some scholars argue that the name of the city is derived from leeu-, the last one suits the watery province of Friesland. The name is similar to that of the French commune Lewarde, located in the Nord Department, the oldest remains of houses date back to the 2nd century AD in the Roman era and were discovered during an excavation near the Oldehove. The area has been inhabited since the 10th century, and was mentioned as a city in German sources in 1285. Situated along the Middelzee, it was a trade centre until the waterway silted up in the 15th century
2.
West Frisian language
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West Frisian, or simply Frisian is a West Germanic language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands, mostly by those of Frisian ancestry. It is the most widely spoken of the three Frisian languages, the name West Frisian is only used outside the Netherlands, to distinguish this language from the closely related Frisian languages of Saterland Frisian and North Frisian spoken in Germany. Most speakers of West Frisian live in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands, Friesland has 643,000 inhabitants, of whom 94% can understand spoken Frisian, 74% can speak Frisian, 75% can read Frisian, and 27% can write it. For over half of the inhabitants of the province of Friesland, 55%, also, many Frisians have left their province in the last sixty years for more prosperous parts of the Netherlands. In addition, there is a Frisian diaspora abroad, with Friesland having sent, in relative terms, the largest concentrations of Frisian speakers outside the Netherlands are located in Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Apart from the use of Frisian as a first language, it is spoken as a second language by about 120,000 people in the province of Friesland. One part of Friesland, Stellingwerf in the south-east, does not speak Frisian, the least-used dialect of West Frisian is Skiermûntseagersk, the island dialect of Schiermonnikoog, which is actually on the verge of extinction, because it is spoken by no more than 50–100 people. The Amelansk dialect is spoken on the island Ameland and is the only Frisian variety that does not devoice final obstruants, Hindeloopen Frisian, the archaic Frisian dialect of the peninsular harbour town of Hindeloopen on the west coast, is still spoken by some 300 people at the most. Skylgersk and Aastersk are the dialects of the western and eastern parts of the island of Terschelling and have about 800 and 400 speakers respectively and they are separated from each other by the Dutch dialect of Midslands, which is spoken in the central part of Terschelling. Because of their insular nature these four less-used dialects are also those that have deviated the most from mainstream Frisian, in fact, three of the four widely used mainland dialects are so much alike that a non-Frisian could probably not make out any differences. The Noardhoeksk dialect is spoken in the eastern corner of the province. By far the two most widely spoken West Frisian dialects are Clay Frisian and Wood Frisian, both these names are derived from the Frisian landscape. In the western and north-western parts of the province, the region where Clay Frisian is spoken, the dialect spoken in the eastern area is thus called Wood Frisian. Although Klaaifrysk and Wâldfrysk are mutually very easily intelligible, there are, at least to native Frisian speakers and these include the pronunciation of the words my, dy, hy, sy, wy and by, and the diphthongs ei and aai. In the early Middle Ages the Frisian lands stretched from the area around Bruges, in what is now Belgium, to the river Weser, at that time, the Frisian language was spoken along the entire southern North Sea coast. Old Frisian bore a similarity to Old English. This similarity was reinforced in the late Middle Ages by the Ingvaeonic sound shift, which affected Frisian and English, both English and Frisian are marked by the suppression of the Germanic nasal in a word like us, soft or goose, see Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law. Also, when followed by some vowels the Germanic k developed into a ch sound, for example, the Frisian for cheese and church is tsiis and tsjerke, whereas in Dutch it is kaas and kerk
3.
Ice skating
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Ice skating is the act of moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including exercise, leisure, traveling, ice skating occurs both on specially prepared ice surfaces, both indoors and outdoors, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as ponds, lakes and rivers. A study by Federico Formenti of the University of Oxford suggests that the earliest ice skating happened in southern Finland more than 3,000 years ago, originally, skates were merely sharpened, flattened bone strapped to the bottom of the foot. Skaters did not actually skate on the ice, but rather glided on top of it, true skating emerged when a steel blade with sharpened edges was used. Skates now cut into the ice instead of gliding on top of it, adding edges to ice skates was invented by the Dutch in the 13th or 14th century. These ice skates were made of steel, with sharpened edges on the bottom to aid movement, the construction of modern ice skates has stayed largely the same since then. In the Netherlands, ice skating was considered proper for all classes of people, ice skating was also practised in China during the Song dynasty, and became popular among the ruling family of the Qing dynasty. Ice skating was brought to Britain from the Netherlands, where James II was briefly exiled in the 17th century, when he returned to England, this new sport was introduced to the British aristocracy, and was soon enjoyed by people from all walks of life. The first organised skating club was the Edinburgh Skating Club, formed in the 1740s, from this description and others, it is apparent that the form of skating practiced by club members was indeed an early form of figure skating rather than speed skating. On the Continent, participation in ice skating was limited to members of the upper classes, emperor Rudolf II of the Holy Roman Empire enjoyed ice skating so much, he had a large ice carnival constructed in his court in order to popularise the sport. King Louis XVI of France brought ice skating to Paris during his reign, madame de Pompadour, Napoleon I, Napoleon III and the House of Stuart were, among others, royal and upper class fans of ice skating. The next skating club to be established was in London and was not founded until 1830, as the technology for the maintenance of natural ice did not exist, these early rinks used a substitute consisting of a mixture of hogs lard and various salts. The area of ice is extremely convenient for such as may be desirous of engaging in the graceful. Skating became popular as a recreation, a means of transport, racing was the preserve of workers, most of them agricultural labourers. It is not known when the first skating matches were held, but by the nineteenth century racing was well established. Skating as a sport developed on the lakes of Scotland and the canals of the Netherlands, in the 13th and 14th centuries wood was substituted for bone in skate blades, and in 1572 the first iron skates were manufactured. When the waters froze, skating matches were held in towns, in these local matches men would compete for prizes of money, clothing or food. The winners of matches were invited to take part in the grand or championship matches in which skaters from across the Fens would compete for cash prizes in front of crowds of thousands
4.
Speed skating
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Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, in the Olympic Games, long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just speed skating, while short-track speed skating is known as short track. The ISU, the body of both ice sports, refers to long track as speed skating and short track as short track skating. The standard rink for long track is 400 meters long, but tracks of 200,250 and it is one of two Olympic forms of the sport and the one with the longer history. An international federation was founded in 1892, the first for any winter sport, the sport enjoys large popularity in the Netherlands and Norway. There are top international rinks in a number of countries, including Canada. A World Cup circuit is held with events in those countries, International Skating Union rules allow some leeway in the size and radius of curves. Short track speed skating takes place on a rink, normally the size of an ice hockey rink. Distances are shorter than in long-track racing, with the longest Olympic individual race being 1500 meters, races are usually held as knockouts, with the best two in heats of four or five qualifying for the final race, where medals are awarded. Disqualifications and falls are not uncommon, there are variations on the mass-start races. In the regulations of roller sports, eight different types of mass starts are described, races usually have some rules about disqualification if an opponent is unfairly hindered, these rules vary between the disciplines. In mass-start races, skaters will usually be allowed some physical contact, relay races are also held in short track and inline competitions, but here, exchanges may take place at any time during the race, though exchanges may be banned during the last couple of laps. Most speed skating races are held on a course. Oval sizes vary, in track speed skating, the rink must be an oval of 111.12 metres. Inline skating rinks are between 125 and 400 metres, though banked tracks can only be 250 metres long, inline skating can also be held on closed road courses between 400 and 1,000 metres, as well as open-road competitions where starting and finishing lines do not coincide. This is also a feature of outdoor marathons and it was much later, in the 16th century, that people started seeing skating as fun and perhaps even a sporting activity. Later, in Norway, King Eystein Magnusson, later King Eystein I of Norway, however, skating and speed skating was not limited to the Netherlands and Scandinavia, in 1592, a Scotsman designed a skate with an iron blade. It was iron-bladed skates that led to the spread of skating and, in particular, while in the Netherlands, people began touring the waterways connecting the 11 cities of Friesland, a challenge which eventually led to the Elfstedentocht
5.
Friesland
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Friesland or Frisia is a province in the northwest of the Netherlands. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of Flevoland, northeast of North Holland, in 2010, the province had a population of 646,000 and a total area of 5,749 km2. The capital and seat of the government is the city of Leeuwarden. Since 2017, Arno Brok is the Kings Commissioner in the province, a coalition of the Labour Party, the Christian Democratic Appeal, and the Frisian National Party forms the executive branch. The province is divided into 24 municipalities, the area of the province was once part of the ancient, larger region of Frisia. The official languages of Friesland are West Lauwers Frisian and Dutch, a proto-Frisian culture slowly began to emerge around 400–200 BC known for its artificial dwelling hills as a defence against the sea. The Roman claim on Frisia began in 12 BC with the campaign of Nero Claudius Drusus in Germania, after a series of costly battles against the Frisians, the Romans were suddenly sworn fealty. The de facto independence they later enjoyed as a Roman vassal shows that this might have been a mostly diplomatic decision based on the temporary favourable bargaining position. Together with other Germanic tribes such as the Salians and the Batavii they managed to keep the north of the Lower Rhine mostly free from Roman influence. The early eighth-century AD is known for the Frisian Kingdom, king Redbad, after incorporation into the Frankish empire, Friesland was divided into three parts. The westernmost part developed at the start of the second millennium into the County of Holland, while the remainder of Frisia had no feudal overlord and that ended when Charles V added Frisia to the Habsburg Netherlands as Lordship of Frisia. Under Napoleon, the department was named Frise, after Napoleon was defeated in 1813, the department became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands as the province of Friesland. Friesland is the largest province of the Netherlands if one includes areas of water, in terms of land area only, the provinces highest point is at 45 metres above sea level, on the island of Vlieland. There are four parks, Schiermonnikoog, De Alde Feanen, Lauwersmeer. The ten urban areas in Friesland with the largest population are, The province is divided into 24 municipalities, the province of Friesland has an oceanic climate. In 2010, Friesland had a population of 646,305, the years 1880–1900 show slower population growth due to a farm crisis in which 20,000 Frisians emigrated to the United States of America. Since the late Middle Ages, Friesland has been renowned for the height of its inhabitants. Friesland is mainly an agricultural province, the black and white Frisian cattle, black and white Stabyhoun and the black Frisian horse originated here
6.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
7.
Sneek
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Sneek is a city southwest of Leeuwarden and seat of the former municipality of Sneek in the province of Friesland. As for 2011 it is part of the municipality Súdwest Fryslân, the city has approximately 33,000 inhabitants. Sneek is situated in Southwest-Friesland, close to the Sneekermeer and is known for its canals, the Waterpoort. Sneek is one of the Friese elf steden, the city is very important for the southwest area of Friesland. Sneek was founded in the 10th century on a peninsula at the crossing site of a dike with an important waterway. This waterway was dug when the former Middelzee silted up, the dike can still be traced in the current street pattern and street names like Hemdijk, Oude Dijk and Oosterdijk. Sneek received several city rights in the 13th century, which became official in 1456, Sneek was now one of the eleven Frisian cities. This was also the beginning of a period of blooming trade for the city that would last until about 1550, in 1492 construction of a moat and wall around the city began. In those days Sneek was the walled city in Friesland. The Waterpoort and the Bolwerk remain today, since September 10,1970, Sneek and the Japanese city Kurobe have been sister cities. In 1970, Mayor L. Rasterhoff of Sneek visited the city of Kurobe and was named an Honorary citizen, Mayor H. Terade of Kurobe made a visit to Sneek in 1972. In 2000 delegations of both cities visited each other again, the Japanese showed the citizens of Sneek a Sneekplein which was built in Kurobe. Sneek has its own dialect that dates back to the Dutch language before 1600, snekers is part of the city Frisian dialects. The famous clothingstore C&A started in 1841 with a store in Sneek, the Candyfactory Leaf produces Peppermint under the name KING as well as chewing gum and various other sweets. The name KING has nothing to do with the English word KING, also Sneek has a Steel, Machinery and a Rope factory. Since 1964 theres a factory of Yoshida YKK from Kurobe, besides that, the Supermarket branch Poiesz, Clothing brand Gaastra and Frisian gin called beerenburg from Weduwe Joustra are products that have their roots in Sneek. Sneek is well known as the center of watersports with over 130 watersport companies and 13 Marinas and it also it has a historic inner city replete with houses of old upper-class families. Watergate Town hall Martinichurch, with a carillon of 50 bells Sint-Martinuschurch Tonnema Candy Factory the Wooden bridges across the Rijksweg 7
8.
IJlst
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IJlst is a city in Friesland, Netherlands. It is located about 3 km southwest of Sneek and it lies within the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân. It received city rights in 1268 and is one of the cities in Friesland. The city has a population of approximately 3200, between 1654 and 1664, Renier van Tzum was burgomaster of IJlst. Van Tzum was the opperhoofd or chief factor of the Dutch East India Company in Siam and he was also VOC opperhoofd in Japan. The name IJlst derives from the name of the river IJ or Ey, the river IJ is the central point of the little city. IJlst has a station located between the cities of Sneek and Stavoren. The following districts are part of IJlst, Centrum Roodhem Mientlan Noord Wiiddraai De Rat Cloosterkamp De Iendracht Media related to IJlst at Wikimedia Commons
9.
Sloten, Friesland
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Sloten received city rights in 1426, and is the smallest of the eleven Frisian cities. It lies within the municipality of De Friese Meren, Sloten is one of the smallest cities of the Netherlands and is a popular place for sports such as sailing. It is a city with old buildings and a windmill, De Kaai. Media related to Sloten, Friesland at Wikimedia Commons
10.
Stavoren
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Stavoren, previously Staveren is a small town on the coast of the IJsselmeer, about 5 km south of Hindeloopen. The historical Stavoren was granted city rights between 1060 and 1067, making it the oldest city in Friesland, Stavoren began to decline in the late Middle Ages after a sandbank formed outside the harbour, blocking ships from entering and exiting. The appearance of the sandbank is the topic of the Dutch Renaissance folk-tale of the Lady of Stavoren, in 1657, the entire town was submerged in a great flood. Modern Stavoren is a village with a population of less than 1000 within the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân and it is one of the stops on the Elfstedentocht, an ice skating contest/event which occurs when the winter temperatures provide safe conditions. A ferry for pedestrians and cyclists operates between Stavoren and Enkhuizen, with increased trips during summer months, media related to Stavoren at Wikimedia Commons
11.
Hindeloopen
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Hindeloopen is an old city on the North of the Netherlands on the IJsselmeer. It lies within the municipality of Súdwest Fryslân and it is famous because of the Hindeloopen art and hindeloopen costume. Hindeloopen is one of the cities of Friesland. Hindeloopen received city rights in 1225 and in 1368 it became a member of the Hanseatic League, since the 12th and 13th century, shippers of Hindeloopen undertook journeys to the North and Baltic Sea Coasts. The shipping trade brought the population of Hindeloopen a great prosperity, the 17th and 18th century were especially golden times. At that time, the people of Hindeloopen spent a lot of money in Amsterdam on precious fabrics and objects, the rich town developed in those days her own costume and a completely individual style with colorful painted walls and furniture. In the small streets some sea captains houses remind of this time of glory and you can see an anchor hanging on the façades of these houses, in those years a sign, that the captain could still accept freight. In summertime when the captain was at sea, the captains wife lived with the children in the so-called “Likhus”, a little house behind the captains house at the waterline. In the old center you can get a feel for Hindeloopens unique character by wandering through the streets and looking for the lovely views. In the Museum Hindeloopen you can become acquainted with the maritime history and living culture of Hindeloopen. Peter Tazelaar Official website Museum Hindeloopen Museum Hindeloopen, Hindelooper schilderkunst, klederdracht, stads- en scheepvaarthistorie
12.
Workum
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Workum is a city in the municipality Súdwest-Fryslân in Friesland. It received city rights in 1374 and it currently has around 4000 inhabitants. Today, Workum is probably best known for having a dedicated to the very popular artist Jopie Huisman. Furthermore, it is one of the cities of the Elfstedentocht. There are four windmills in Workum, De Nijlânnermolen, De Snip, Het Heidenschap and Ybemas Molen
13.
Bolsward
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Bolsward is a city in Súdwest-Fryslân in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Bolsward has a population of just under 10,000 and it is located 10 km W. N. W. of Sneek. The town is founded on three artificial dwelling mounds, the first of which was some time before Christ. During the Middle Ages, Bolsward was a center and port city connected to the North Sea via the Middle Sea. This connection was lost when the Middle Sea was reclaimed to form arable land, after this a canal was dug to the Zuiderzee. The town is first mentioned in AD725, as a trading city, Bolsward was granted city rights by Philip the Good in 1455. Bolsward was made a member of the Hanseatic league in 1422, before being merged into the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân, the town of Bolsward was an independent municipality. A local festival of four days in June and this is an old traditional festival to celebrate that the farmers have harvested the hay from the fields. The name of the festival, Heamiel, is frisian for Hay meal, bolletongersdei is frisian for bulls Thursday. Bolletongersdei is held on the first Thursday of October, a music festival of 4 evenings with performances, held in August. Bolsward is one of the eleven Frisian cities in which the ice skating Elfstedentocht, because the marathon depends on the thickness of the ice, it is not held on a regular schedule and can be somewhat rare. Bolsward is also the host city for the yearly Cycling Elfstedentocht, protestant church of Bolsward Official website
14.
Harlingen, Netherlands
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Harlingen is a municipality and a city in the northern Netherlands, in the province of Friesland at the Wadden Sea. Harlingen is a town with a history of fishing and shipping. Harlingen received city rights in 1234, Harlingen is served by two stations on the railway line from Leeuwarden. From 1904 to 1935 there was a service on the North Friesland Railway. Rederij Doeksen operate ferries to the Wadden islands of Vlieland and Terschelling that depart from Harlingen, the famous Dutch writer Simon Vestdijk was born in Harlingen and used to depict his hometown in his writings as Lahringen. The town of Harlingen, Texas, in the United States is named after this city many of the original settlers of the Texas town came from Harlingen. The Admiralty of Friesland was established in Dokkum in 1597 but moved to Harlingen in 1645, Harlingen Midlum Wijnaldum Harlingen travel guide from Wikivoyage Official website streaming webcams Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Harlingen
15.
Franeker
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Franeker is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Franekeradeel. It is located about 20 km west of Leeuwarden on the Van Harinxma Canal, as of 1 January 2006, it had 12,996 inhabitants. The Eisinga Planetarium from around the year 1800 is located in the city, Franeker was founded around 800 as a Carolingian stronghold. The name probably derives from Froon-acker, meaning country of the king, beginning around the 11th century, Franeker developed into the administrative center Westergoa. Franeker received city rights in 1374, in the 15th century, Albert, Duke of Saxony established himself in Franeker. The city appeared for a time to be growing into the city of Friesland. During the period of the Dutch Revolt, the town sided early on with William I, from 1585 to 1811, the city housed the University of Franeker, which was the second Protestant university in the Netherlands. It was closed shortly after the incorporation of the Kingdom of Holland into the French Empire, a successor institution, the Rijksatheneum, was founded in 1815, but in 1847 it, too, closed. The Krystkongres, usually held in Franeker, is the convention for Frisian students living in Dutch student towns. Franeker is located at 53°12′N 5°32′E in the municipality of Franekeradeel in the west of the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands and it is east of the city of Harlingen and about 20 km west of the provincial capital Leeuwarden. It is situated on the Van Harinxma Canal, as of 1 January 2006, the city of Franeker had a population of 12,996. The Eisinga Planetarium and the Museum Martena are museums located in the city, the Planetarium is an orrery built by a local wool carder to explain a conjunction of the planets and to help mitigate local fears of what would happen during the planets alignment. Built in Eisingas own living room, it is one of the oldest operating orreries in the world, the Museum Martena, opened in 2006, is housed in a manor house built in 1498 and is devoted to the history of the city and the region. The windmill Arkens is a hollow post mill which has been restored and it originally stood in Arkens and was moved in 1972. It is the windmill in the Netherlands equipped with Vlinderwieken. Since 1852 Franeker is the home of the PC. the most important tournament in Frisian handball, Franeker is a regular host of the Frisian draughts competitions. Being one of the Frisian cities, Franeker is also on the route of the 200 kilometres Elfstedentocht, in August 2014, Jeffrey Peereboom, a student from Franeker, introduced an idea of the speed limits for bicycles in order to make biking in the city safer. Franeker railway station is a station on the NS line between Leeuwarden and Harlingen and it also had a station on the North Friesland Railway which was the terminus of a branch from Tzummarum
16.
Dokkum
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Dokkum is a Dutch fortified town in the municipality of Dongeradeel in the province of Friesland. The fortifications of Dokkum are well preserved and are known as the bolwerken and it is the fifth most popular shopping city in Friesland. It also has the smallest hospital of the Netherlands, the best known event in Dokkums history is the martyrdom of the Anglo-Saxon missionary Saint Boniface in 754. Oliver of Cologne preached the Fifth Crusade in Dokkum in 1214 and Dokkum sent a contingent, Dokkum acquired city rights in 1298. In 1572 Dokkum was sacked by the Spaniards after it had joined the Dutch Revolt, in 1597, the Admiralty of Friesland was established in Dokkum. However, it was moved to Harlingen in 1645, in 1971 the city was included in the list of Dutch Urban and village conservation areas. The town hall in Dokkum was built in 1610, grote of Sint-Martinuskerk which is from the 16th century. Bonifatiuskapel is from 1934 Dokkum had a station on the North Friesland Railway and it became the terminus for passenger services in May 1935 and closed to passengers in July 1936. The station reopened to passengers in May 1940 and closed to passengers in July 1942, there is still a bus station in Dokkum. In the 200 km ice skating marathon known as the Elfstedentocht, Dokkum is known as the keerpunt, because it is where the speedskaters turn, there are two different soccer clubs in Dokkum, VV Dokkum and Be Quick Dokkum. In 1652, Dokkum had five windmills, these were all post mills, Dokkum has two windmills, cap mills, that are preserved and both of them are open to the public by appointment. They are named Zeldenrust and De Hoop, a third mill, De Marmeerin stood by the Woudvaart outside the town. Since 2014 the mill was moved to be restored to working order, after restoration it is to be rebuilt at De sûkerei open-air museum in Damwoude. Dokkum was the residence for much of her career of the pioneering midwife Catharina Geertruida Schrader
17.
Windmill
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A windmill is a mill that converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Centuries ago, windmills usually were used to mill grain, pump water, thus they often were gristmills, windpumps, or both. The majority of modern windmills take the form of wind turbines used to generate electricity, the windwheel of the Greek engineer Heron of Alexandria in the first century is the earliest known instance of using a wind-driven wheel to power a machine. Another early example of a wheel was the prayer wheel. It has been claimed that the Babylonian emperor Hammurabi planned to use wind power for his ambitious project in the seventeenth century BCE. The first practical windmills had sails that rotated in a horizontal plane, according to Ahmad Y. al-Hassan, these panemone windmills were invented in eastern Persia as recorded by the Persian geographer Estakhri in the ninth century. The authenticity of an anecdote of a windmill involving the second caliph Umar is questioned on the grounds that it appears in a tenth-century document. Made of six to 12 sails covered in reed matting or cloth material, these windmills were used to grind grain or draw up water, Windmills were in widespread use across the Middle East and Central Asia, and later spread to China and India from there. A similar type of windmill with rectangular blades, used for irrigation, can also be found in thirteenth-century China. Horizontal windmills were built, in numbers, in Europe during the 18th and nineteenth centuries, for example Fowlers Mill at Battersea in London. Due to a lack of evidence, debate occurs among historians as to whether or not Middle Eastern horizontal windmills triggered the development of European windmills. In northwestern Europe, the horizontal-axis or vertical windmill is believed to date from the last quarter of the century in the triangle of northern France, eastern England. The earliest certain reference to a windmill in Europe dates from 1185, a number of earlier, but less certainly dated, twelfth-century European sources referring to windmills have also been found. These earliest mills were used to grind cereals, the evidence at present is that the earliest type of European windmill was the post mill, so named because of the large upright post on which the mills main structure is balanced. The body contains all the milling machinery, the first post mills were of the sunken type, where the post was buried in an earth mound to support it. Later, a wooden support was developed called the trestle and this was often covered over or surrounded by a roundhouse to protect the trestle from the weather and to provide storage space. This type of windmill was the most common in Europe until the nineteenth century, in a hollow-post mill, the post on which the body is mounted is hollowed out, to accommodate the drive shaft. This makes it possible to drive machinery below or outside the body still being able to rotate the body into the wind
18.
De Bullemolen, Lekkum
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De Bullemolen English, The Executioners Mill is a smock mill in Lekkum, Friesland, Netherlands which was built in 1825. The mill has been restored to working order and is listed as a Rijksmonument, De Bullemolen was originally built at Tytsjerk, where it drained the Louwsmeer polder. It was moved in 1825 to its current position, where it drains the Litspolder, the name De Bullemolen is said to have come from the occupation of an early owner, who was the beul of Leeuwarden. De Bullemolen was one of the first windmills in Friesland to be fitted with sails that had leading edges on the Fok system, a restoration of the mill was carried out in 1968. The mill was sold on 28 March 1988 to Stichting De Fryske Mole, in 1995, millwright Thijs Jellema of Birdaard carried out a further restoration. A new Archimedes screw and new sails were fitted and the mechanism was renewed. In 2006, the mill was designated by Wetterskap Fryslân as being held in reserve for use in times of emergency. It is near the point of the Elfstedentocht. De Bullemolen is what the Dutch describe as a Grondzeiler and it is a three-storey smock mill on a single-storey base. There is no stage, the sails reaching almost to ground level, the mill is winded by tailpole and winch. The smock and cap are thatched, the sails are Common sails, with one pair having leading edges on the Fauël system. They have a span of 20.50 metres, the sails are carried on a cast-iron windshaft. Which was cast by Fabrikaat L Enthoven en Compagnië in 1882, the windshaft also carries the brake wheel which has 55 cogs. This drives the wallower at the top of the upright shaft, at the bottom of the upright shaft the crown wheel, which has 40 cogs drives a gearwheel with 33 cogs on the axle of the Archimedes screw. The axle of the Archimedes screw is 580 millimetres diameter, the screw is 1.44 metres diameter and 4.82 metres long. Each revolution of the screw lifts 1,130 litres of water, De Bullemolen is open to the public by appointment
19.
Mark Rutte
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Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who has been the Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 14 October 2010, and the Leader of the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy since 31 May 2006. At the 2006 general election, the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, already under Rutte, lost six seats, and he became the opposition leader. At the following election in 2010, the VVD won the highest number of votes cast. After a long period, Rutte became Prime Minister and formed a Cabinet. When Rutte was sworn in on 14 October 2010, he became the first liberal Prime Minister of the Netherlands in 92 years, on 5 November 2012, the Second Rutte cabinet was installed by Queen Beatrix. Izaäk Rutte worked for a company, first as an importer in the Dutch East Indies. Rutte attended a high school from 1979 until 1985, specialising in the arts. Although Ruttes original ambition was to attend a conservatory and become a concert pianist, he went to study history at Leiden University instead, where he obtained a MA degree in 1992. Rutte combined his studies with a position on the board of the Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy, after his studies, Rutte entered the business world, working as a manager for Unilever and Calvé. Until 1997, Rutte was part of the human resource department of Unilever, between 1997 and 2000, Rutte was staff manager for Van den Bergh Nederland, a subsidiary of Unilevers. In 2000, Rutte became a member of the Corporate Human Resources Group, between 1993 and 1997, Rutte was a member of the national board of the VVD. Rutte also served as a member of the VVD candidate committee for the election of 2002. Rutte was elected as Member of Parliament in 2003, Rutte served as Undersecretary in the Social Affairs and Employment ministry from 22 July 2002 to 17 June 2004 in the first and second Balkenende cabinets. Rutte was responsible for fields including bijstand and arbeidsomstandigheden, after the 2003 elections Rutte was briefly also a member of the House of Representatives, from 30 January to 27 May 2003. In office, Rutte showed particular interest in making the Dutch higher education system more competitive internationally, Rutte would have been succeeded by former The Hague alderman Bruno Bruins. Before Bruins could be sworn into office, the second Balkenende cabinet fell, in the subsequently formed third Balkenende cabinet Bruins succeeded Rutte as Undersecretary. Rutte resigned as Undersecretary in June 2006 to return to the House of Representatives, Rutte became an important figure within the VVD leadership. Rutte was campaign manager for the 2006 municipal elections, on 31 May 2006, it was announced that Mark Rutte would be the next front-runner of the VVD
20.
Pim Mulier
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Willem Johan Herman Mulier, known as Pim Mulier was one of the leading figures in sporting history of the Netherlands. He was founder of sports club Koninklijke HFC in 1879 and the first tennis club in the Netherlands in 1884 and he also organized the first athletics competition and introduced cricket and hockey to the Netherlands. In 1889 he was founder of the Nederlandsche Voetbal- en Athletische Bond, in 1890 he ice skated past eleven cities in Friesland, which became a precursor to the Elfstedentocht. He designed the medal for participation himself, in 1891, Mulier, with the assistance of Charles Goodman Tebbutt, introduced bandy to the Netherlands. Pim Mulier at www. speedskatingnews. info International Skating Union – Past Presidents at www. isu. org
21.
Dutch (language)
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It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after English and German. Dutch is one of the closest relatives of both German and English and is said to be roughly in between them, Dutch vocabulary is mostly Germanic and incorporates more Romance loans than German but far fewer than English. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, the official name for Dutch is Nederlands, and its dialects have their own names, e. g. Hollands, West-Vlaams. The use of the word Vlaams to describe Standard Dutch for the variations prevalent in Flanders and used there, however, is common in the Netherlands, the Dutch language has been known under a variety of names. It derived from the Old Germanic word theudisk, one of the first names used for the non-Romance languages of Western Europe. It literarily means the language of the people, that is. The term was used as opposed to Latin, the language of writing. In the first text in which it is found, dating from 784, later, theudisca appeared also in the Oaths of Strasbourg to refer to the Germanic portion of the oath. This led inevitably to confusion since similar terms referred to different languages, owing to Dutch commercial and colonial rivalry in the 16th and 17th centuries, the English term came to refer exclusively to the Dutch. A notable exception is Pennsylvania Dutch, which is a West Central German variety called Deitsch by its speakers, Jersey Dutch, on the other hand, as spoken until the 1950s in New Jersey, is a Dutch-based creole. In Dutch itself, Diets went out of common use - although Platdiets is still used for the transitional Limburgish-Ripuarian Low Dietsch dialects in northeast Belgium, Nederlands, the official Dutch word for Dutch, did not become firmly established until the 19th century. This designation had been in use as far back as the end of the 15th century, one of them was it reflected a distinction with Hoogduits, High Dutch, meaning the language spoken in Germany. The Hoog was later dropped, and thus, Duits narrowed down in meaning to refer to the German language. g, in English, too, Netherlandic is regarded as a more accurate term for the Dutch language, but is hardly ever used. Old Dutch branched off more or less around the same time Old English, Old High German, Old Frisian and Old Saxon did. During that period, it forced Old Frisian back from the western coast to the north of the Low Countries, on the other hand, Dutch has been replaced in adjacent lands in nowadays France and Germany. The division in Old, Middle and Modern Dutch is mostly conventional, one of the few moments linguists can detect somewhat of a revolution is when the Dutch standard language emerged and quickly established itself. This is assumed to have taken place in approximately the mid-first millennium BCE in the pre-Roman Northern European Iron Age, the Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups, East, West, and North Germanic. They remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration Period, Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots, Frisian, Low German and High German
22.
German invasion of the Netherlands
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The Battle of the Netherlands was part of Case Yellow, the German invasion of the Low Countries and France during World War II. The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until the surrender of the main Dutch forces 14 May, Dutch troops in the province of Zealand continued to resist the Wehrmacht until 17 May when Germany completed its occupation of the whole nation. The Battle of the Netherlands saw one of the first mass paratroop drops, after the devastating bombing of Rotterdam by the Luftwaffe, the Germans threatened to bomb other Dutch cities if the Dutch forces refused to surrender. The General Staff knew it could not stop the bombers and ordered the Dutch army cease hostilities to avoid the threat, the last occupied parts of the Netherlands were liberated in 1945. During this time, the British and French built up their forces in expectation of a war. The Dutch were ill-prepared to resist such an invasion, when Hitler came to power, the Dutch had begun to re-arm, but more slowly than France or Belgium, only in 1936 did the defence budget start to be gradually increased. Successive Dutch governments tended to avoid openly identifying Germany as a military threat. International tensions grew in the late 1930s and these events forced the Dutch government to exercise greater vigilance, but they limited their reaction as much as they could. The most important measure was a partial mobilisation of 100,000 men in April 1939, to ensure this neutrality, the Dutch army was mobilised from 24 August and entrenched. Large sums were spent on defence and it proved very difficult to obtain new matériel in wartime, however, especially as the Dutch had ordered some of their new equipment from Germany, which deliberately delayed deliveries. Moreover, a part of the funds were intended for the Dutch East Indies. The strategic position of the Low Countries, located between France and Germany on the flanks of their fortification lines, made the area a logical route for an offensive by either side. In a 20 January 1940 radio speech, Winston Churchill tried to convince them not to wait for an inevitable German attack, but to join the Anglo-French Entente. Both the Belgians and Dutch refused, even though the German attack plans had fallen into Belgian hands after a German aircraft crash in January 1940 in what known as the Mechelen Incident. The Dutch tried on several occasions to act as an intermediary to reach a peace settlement between the Entente and Germany. They started to prepare for war, both mentally and physically. Dutch border troops were put on greater alert, reports of the presumed actions of a Fifth Column in Scandinavia caused widespread fears that the Netherlands too had been infiltrated by German agents assisted by traitors. Countermeasures were taken against an assault on airfields and ports
23.
Reinier Paping
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Reinier Paping is a Dutch speedskater primarily known as the winner of the Elfstedentocht of 1963. After winning the race, he was recognized as a hero in the Netherlands. Paping was born on 18 February 1931 in Dedemsvaart, before 1963, Paping had participated in several Dutch allround championships, with a 4th place in 1955 as his best result. Paping finished the race in ten hours and 59 minutes, while the second-place finisher, Jan Uitham, arrived a full 22 minutes later
24.
King
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King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, in the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the title may refer to tribal kingship. Germanic kingship is cognate with Indo-European traditions of tribal rulership In the context of classical antiquity, king may translate Latin rex or either Greek archon or basileus. In classical European feudalism, the title of king as the ruler of a kingdom is understood as the highest rank in the order, potentially subject. In a modern context, the title may refer to the ruler of one of a number of modern monarchies. The title of king is used alongside other titles for monarchs, in the West prince, emperor, archduke, duke or grand duke, in the Middle East sultan or emir, etc. Kings, like other royalty, tend to wear purple because purple was a color to wear in the past. The English term king is derived from the Anglo-Saxon cyning, which in turn is derived from the Common Germanic *kuningaz, the Common Germanic term was borrowed into Estonian and Finnish at an early time, surviving in these languages as kuningas. The English term king translates, and is considered equivalent to, Latin rēx, the Germanic term is notably different from the word for king in other Indo-European languages. It is a derivation from the term *kunjom kin by the -inga- suffix, the literal meaning is that of a scion of the kin, or perhaps son or descendant of one of noble birth. English queen translates Latin regina, it is from Old English cwen queen, noble woman, the Germanic term for wife appears to have been specialized to wife of a king, in Old Norse, the cognate kvan still mostly refers to a wife generally. Scandinavian drottning, dronning is a derivation from *druhtinaz lord. The English word is of Germanic origin, and historically refers to Germanic kingship, the Early Middle Ages begin with a fragmentation of the former Western Roman Empire into barbarian kingdoms. The core of European feudal manorialism in the High Middle Ages were the territories of the kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire, in southern Europe, the kingdom of Sicily was established following the Norman conquest of southern Italy. The Kingdom of Sardinia was claimed as a title held by the Crown of Aragon in 1324. In the Balkans, the Kingdom of Serbia was established in 1217, in eastern-central Europe, the Kingdom of Hungary was established in AD1000 following the Christianisation of the Magyars. The kingdoms of Poland and Bohemia were established within the Holy Roman Empire in 1025 and 1198, in Eastern Europe, the Kievan Rus consolidated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which did not technically claim the status of kingdom until the early modern Tsardom of Russia. In northern Europe, the kingdoms of the Viking Age by the 11th century expanded into the North Sea Empire under Cnut the Great, king of Denmark, England
25.
Crown prince
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A crown prince or crown princess is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a prince is also titled crown princess. The term is now borne as a title mainly in Asia, Scandinavia, and the Middle East, however, heirs apparent to non-imperial and non-royal monarchies, crown prince is not used as a title, although it is sometimes used as a synonym for heir apparent. g. Former Crown Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, compare heir apparent and heir presumptive. In Scandinavian kingdoms, the heir presumptive to the crown may hold a different title than the heir apparent and it is also the title borne by the heir apparent of Liechtenstein, as well as the heir apparent or presumptive of Monaco. It generally requires a specific conferral by the sovereign, which may be withheld, reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran. Paras, Crown Prince of Nepal Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia, Egypt, Prince of the Said, meaning Prince of Upper Egypt Persia, Pahlavi dynasty and Qajar dynasty, the full style was Vala Hazrat-i-Humayun Vali Ahd, Shahzada, i. e. His August Imperial Highness the Heir Apparent, Prince, the above component vali ahd meaning successor by virtue of a covenant was adopted by many oriental monarchies, even some non-Muslim, e. g. g. He was not necessarily the son, wonja. Southeast Asian traditions, Siam Makutrajakuman in Thailand since 1886, krom Phrarajawangboworn Sathanmongkol or Phra Maha Uparaja or commonly called Wang Na in Thailand prior to 1886. Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Adipati Anom in Yogyakarta sultanate and Surakarta, Indonesia, raja Muda or Tengku Mahkota in the Malay sultanates of Malaysia. org- here napoleonic section
26.
Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
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Willem-Alexander is the King of the Netherlands. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht and is the oldest child of Beatrix of the Netherlands and he became Prince of Orange as heir apparent upon his mothers accession on 30 April 1980, and succeeded her following her abdication on 30 April 2013. He went to primary and secondary schools, served in the Royal Netherlands Navy. He married Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti in 2002 and they have three daughters, Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, Princess Alexia, and Princess Ariane, Willem-Alexander is interested in sports and international water management issues. At the age of 49, he is currently the second youngest monarch in Europe after Felipe VI of Spain, Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand was born on 27 April 1967 in the University Hospital Utrecht, Now is University Medical Center Utrecht in Utrecht, Netherlands. He is the first child of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus, and he was the first male Dutch royal baby since the birth of Prince Alexander in 1851, and the first immediate male heir since Alexanders death in 1884. From birth, Willem-Alexander has held the titles Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau and he was baptised as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church on 2 September 1967 in Saint Jacobs Church in The Hague. He had two brothers, Prince Friso and Prince Constantijn. He lived with his family at the castle Drakensteyn in the hamlet Lage Vuursche near Baarn from his birth until 1981 and his mother Beatrix became Queen of the Netherlands in 1980, after his grandmother Juliana abdicated. He then received the title of Prince of Orange as heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander attended Nieuwe Baarnse Elementary School in Baarn from 1973 to 1979. After his military service from 1985 to 1987, Willem-Alexander studied History at Leiden University from 1987 onwards and his final thesis was on the Dutch response to Frances decision under President Charles de Gaulle to leave the NATOs integrated command structure. Willem-Alexander speaks English, Spanish and German in addition to his native Dutch, between secondary school and his university education, Willem-Alexander performed military service in the Royal Netherlands Navy from August 1985 until January 1987. He received his training at the Royal Netherlands Naval College and the frigates HNLMS Tromp and HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, in 1988 he received additional training at the ship HNLMS Van Kinsbergen and became a lieutenant. As a reservist for the Royal Netherlands Navy, Willem-Alexander was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 1995, Commander in 1997, Captain at Sea in 2001, and Commodore in 2005. As a reservist for the Royal Netherlands Army, he was made a Major in 1995, and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1997, Colonel in 2001, and Brigadier General in 2005. As a reservist for the Royal Netherlands Air Force, he was made Squadron Leader in 1995, as a reservist for the Royal Marechaussee, he was made Brigadier General in 2005. Before his investiture as king in 2013, Willem-Alexander was honorably discharged from the armed forces, the government declared that the head of state cannot be a serving member of the armed forces, since the government itself holds supreme command over the armed forces. As king, Willem-Alexander may choose to wear a uniform with royal insignia
27.
Piet Kleine
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Pieter Piet Kleine is a former speed skater from the Netherlands who specialized in the longer distances. At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Piet Kleine became Olympic Champion on the 10,000 m and this was a reversal of the roles in the Olympic 5,000 m, in which Stensen had won gold and Kleine silver. In both the 5,000 m and the 10,000 m, Dutch – later French – speed skater Hans van Helden won bronze, later that same year, Kleine broke 4 worlds records and also became World Allround Champion. Kleine participated again in the Winter Olympics of Lake Placid, winning Olympic silver on the 10,000 m behind Eric Heiden and he ended his career as a speed skater in 1981 and started a successful career in amateur bicycle racing. In 1985, as a member of the Dutch national team, in 1986, Kleine became a marathon skater. This led to controversy in 1997 when he finished 5th in the Elfstedentocht. The controversy lay in the fact that, afterwards, it clear that in the past several winners of the Elfstedentocht had missed stamps too. Kleine ended his career in 2001 and continued his profession as a postman. In his free time, Kleine is the leader of a team of marathon skaters and he later coached Dan Jansen. com Kleine has an Adelskalender score of 164.899 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a 2nd place, Piet Kleine at speedskatinghalloffame. com Piet Kleines ranking and personal records on the current Adelskalender
28.
1976 Winter Olympics
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The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 4–15,1976 in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the time the Tyrolean city hosted the Games, which were awarded to Innsbruck after Denver. The cities of Denver, Colorado, United States, Sion, Switzerland, Tampere, Finland, and Vancouver, Canada, made bids for the Games. Denver officially withdrew on November 15, and the IOC then offered the games to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Whistler was later associated with neighbouring Vancouvers successful bid for the 2010 games. Salt Lake City, Utah, a 1972 final candidate who eventually hosted in 2002, was offered by the U. S. Olympic Committee in early January 1973 as a substitute host. By the end of the month and lacking federal assistance, Mayor Jake Garn of Salt Lake City withdrew their bid, still reeling from the Denver rejection, the IOC selected Innsbruck, which had recently hosted in 1964, on February 4,1973. The mascot of the 1976 Winter Olympics is a Tyrolean snowman Games of Simplicity, dorothy Hamill of the US won the gold in Figure Skating, and inspired the popular wedge haircut. Elegant British skater John Curry altered his routine to appeal to Olympic judges, american skater Terry Kubicka attempted – and completed – a dangerous backflip in figure skating. Rosi Mittermaier of West Germany nearly swept the womens alpine skiing events, Soviet speed skater Tatiana Averina won four medals. The U. S. team won six medals in speed skating, in the 4-man bobsled, the East German team won the first of three consecutive titles. The USSR won its fourth straight ice hockey medal, for the second consecutive Olympics. Sports technology, in the guise of innovative perforated skis, sleek hooded suits and streamlined helmets appeared in alpine skiing, speed skating, a second cauldron for the Olympic flame was built to represent the 1976 Games. Both it and the cauldron from the 1964 games were lit together, the Soviet Union won the most medals with 13 gold,6 silver, and 8 bronze. Bobsleigh and luge competed on the track for the first time ever. Ice dancing made its debut to the Olympics, see the medal winners, ordered by sport,37 nations participated in the 1976 Winter Olympic Games. The games marked the time the Republic of China participated under the Republic of China flag. Andorra and San Marino participated in their first Winter Olympic Games,1976 Winter Paralympics 1976 Summer Paralympics 1976 Summer Olympics Winter Olympic Games Olympic Games International Olympic Committee List of IOC country codes Innsbruck 1976. International Olympic Committee. com – winter map of Innsbruck area
29.
Lelystad
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Lelystad is a municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands, and it is the capital of the province of Flevoland. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named after Cornelis Lely, Lelystad is approximately 3 metres below sea level. Lelystad is built on the seabed of the former Zuiderzee, about 6500 years ago this wetland was above high tide level and inhabited, the Netherlands have steadily subsided since. Near Lelystad at Swifterbant, the oldest human skeletons in Western Europe were discovered, due to rising water levels and storms, the peatlands were washed away, and the Lacus Flevo grew to be the Almere and became the Zuiderzee. The Zuiderzee was the transport route from Amsterdam to the North Sea. Due to the shipwrecks in Flevoland, Lelystad now houses the National Centre for Maritime History, with a museum. After the Second World War the Zuiderzee Works continued, constructing the polder of Eastern Flevoland, in 1950 work commenced on several construction islands in the middle of the IJsselmeer. Lelystad-Haven was the largest island, and its wooden barracks housed a community of dyke-builders, in 1955 they reached the mainland, which made it possible to drive to Lelystad by car. One of the three pumping stations, which drained the polder in June 1957, was the diesel-powered Wortman in Lelystad-Haven, until 1967 the only inhabitants of Lelystad were technical engineers and laborers and superintendents, living on the former construction island. Lelystad is the largest municipality in the Netherlands in area, but a part of that area is water, Markermeer and IJsselmeer. Another major area is the famous nature park of Oostvaardersplassen. Lelystad is also surrounded by a square of woodlands and parks, the importance of the landscape and sky is emphasized by several pieces of land art, engineers work and works such as the Observatorium by Robert Morris. Lelystad has several tourist attractions, including, The replica of the 17th-century ship Batavia at the Batavia Shipyard, on the Midland Circuit many motor, kart and stock car racing events and several autoclub meetings are held. On the coast there are several marinas, Lelystad can be reached by air, water, and land. Air, Lelystad Airport is a satellite of the national airport Schiphol. Although no regular flights between Schiphol and Lelystad Airport exist, in 2018 all holiday flights will leave/arrive from/on Lelystad Airport. Water, Lelystad has its own port, several marinas. Rail, the Weesp–Lelystad railway connects the city with Almere and Amsterdam, the Lelystad–Zwolle railway connects Lelystad with Dronten, Kampen and Zwolle
30.
Lock (water navigation)
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A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. Locks are used to make a more easily navigable, or to allow a canal to cross land that is not level. Later canals used more and larger locks to allow a direct route to be taken. Since 2016 the largest lock worldwide is the Kieldrecht Lock in the Port of Antwerp, a pound lock is a type of lock that is used almost exclusively nowadays on canals and rivers. A pound lock has a chamber with gates at both ends that control the level of water in the pound, in contrast, an earlier design with a single gate was known as a flash lock. Pound locks were first used in medieval China during the Song Dynasty, having been pioneered by the government official and engineer Qiao Weiyue in 984. The gates were hanging gates, when they were closed the water accumulated like a tide until the level was reached. The water level could differ by 4 feet or 5 feet at each lock, in medieval Europe a sort of pound lock was built in 1373 at Vreeswijk, Netherlands. This pound lock serviced many ships at once in a large basin, yet the first true pound lock was built in 1396 at Damme near Bruges, Belgium. A famous civil engineer of pound locks in Europe was the Italian Bertola da Novate, who constructed 18 of them on the Naviglio di Bereguardo between the years 1452 and 1458. When a stretch of river is navigable, a lock is sometimes required to bypass an obstruction such as a rapid, dam. In large scale river navigation improvements, weirs and locks are used together, a river improved by these means is often called a Waterway or River Navigation. Sometimes a river is made entirely non-tidal by constructing a sea lock directly into the estuary, in more advanced river navigations, more locks are required. Where a longer cut bypasses a stretch of river, the upstream end of the cut will often be protected by a flood lock. The longer the cut, the greater the difference in level between start and end of the cut, so that a very long cut will need additional locks along its length. At this point, the cut is, in effect, a canal, Early completely artificial canals, across fairly flat countryside, would get round a small hill or depression by simply detouring around it. However, locks continued to be built to supplement these solutions, all pound locks have three elements, A watertight chamber connecting the upper and lower canals, and large enough to enclose one or more boats. The position of the chamber is fixed, but its level can vary
31.
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
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The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute is the Dutch national weather forecasting service, which has its headquarters in De Bilt, in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. The primary tasks of KNMI are weather forecasting, monitoring of climate changes, KNMI is also the national research and information centre for climate, climate change and seismology. Seismological research as well as monitoring of seismic activity, kNMIs applied research also encompasses the development and operational use of atmospheric dispersion models. At such times, KNMI activates a special calamity service, for this purpose, a group of seven meteorologists is constantly on call day or night. KNMIs role in supplying information during emergencies is included in municipal and provincial disaster management plans, civil services, fire departments and the police can be provided with weather and other relevant information directly by the meteorologist on duty, through dedicated telephone connections. It has been designed to calculate the dispersion of air pollution on European scales, the model was originally tested by using measurements of the dispersion of radioactivity caused by the accident in the nuclear power plant of Chernobyl in 1986. A few years later, in 1994, a dedicated dispersion experiment called ETEX was carried out, CALM - CALM is a CALamity Model designed for the calculation of air pollution dispersion on small spatial scales, within the Netherlands. The algorithms and parameters contained in the CALM model are identical to that of the PUFF model. However, the input can only be supplied manually in CALM. The user provides both observed and predicted values for wind velocity at the 10 meter height level, the atmospheric stability classification and the mixing height. After the model calculations have been performed, a map is created and displayed with the trajectories of the pollution plume and an indication of how
32.
Freezing point
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The melting point of a solid is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid at atmospheric pressure. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium, the melting point of a substance depends on pressure and is usually specified at standard pressure. When considered as the temperature of the change from liquid to solid. Because of the ability of some substances to supercool, the point is not considered as a characteristic property of a substance. For most substances, melting and freezing points are approximately equal, for example, the melting point and freezing point of mercury is 234.32 kelvins. However, certain substances possess differing solid-liquid transition temperatures, for example, agar melts at 85 °C and solidifies from 31 °C to 40 °C, such direction dependence is known as hysteresis. The melting point of ice at 1 atmosphere of pressure is close to 0 °C. In the presence of nucleating substances the freezing point of water is the same as the melting point, the chemical element with the highest melting point is tungsten, at 3687 K, this property makes tungsten excellent for use as filaments in light bulbs. Many laboratory techniques exist for the determination of melting points, a Kofler bench is a metal strip with a temperature gradient. Any substance can be placed on a section of the strip revealing its thermal behaviour at the temperature at that point, differential scanning calorimetry gives information on melting point together with its enthalpy of fusion. A basic melting point apparatus for the analysis of crystalline solids consists of an oil bath with a transparent window, the several grains of a solid are placed in a thin glass tube and partially immersed in the oil bath. The oil bath is heated and with the aid of the melting of the individual crystals at a certain temperature can be observed. In large/small devices, the sample is placed in a heating block, the measurement can also be made continuously with an operating process. For instance, oil refineries measure the point of diesel fuel online, meaning that the sample is taken from the process. This allows for more frequent measurements as the sample does not have to be manually collected, for refractory materials the extremely high melting point may be determined by heating the material in a black body furnace and measuring the black-body temperature with an optical pyrometer. For the highest melting materials, this may require extrapolation by several hundred degrees, the spectral radiance from an incandescent body is known to be a function of its temperature. An optical pyrometer matches the radiance of a body under study to the radiance of a source that has been previously calibrated as a function of temperature, in this way, the measurement of the absolute magnitude of the intensity of radiation is unnecessary. However, known temperatures must be used to determine the calibration of the pyrometer, for temperatures above the calibration range of the source, an extrapolation technique must be employed
33.
Coen de Koning
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Coen de Koning was the second Dutch speed skater to win a world title, which he did in 1905. He finished second in 500 m, and won the 1500,5000 and 10,000 m events. De Koning won the national title in 1903,1905 and 1912, and set national records in the 500 m and 10,000 m in 1905. De Koning also set a record in one-hour skating, at 32,370 m in 1906. De Koning came from a skating family. His brother Jacobus Sjaak Petrus de Koning won the national title in 1914. His son Jacobus Petrus Coenradus de Koning competed at the 1942 national championships and his more distant relatives on the brothers side, Truus Dijkstra and Jacques de Koning were also prominent Dutch speed skaters
34.
Auke Adema
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Auke Adema was a Dutch skater. He won the Elfstedentocht, the worlds largest speed skating competition twice, in the sixth race in 1940 he controversially shared the victory with Durk van der Duim, Cor Jongert, Piet Keijzer and Sjouke Westra. In Dokkum they had made a conspiracy to cross the line together. This became known as the Pact of Dokkum, the practice of non competitive finishing was outlawed after this. Adema won the seventh Elfstedentocht by himself on 6 February 1941 in a time of 9 hours 19 minutes, in the race he broke away from the pack with two others to have an early lead. However, when stopping to eat a sausage with Joop Bosman at Workum, other skaters managed to get ahead, film of the 1941 race Elfstedentocht 1941 Geschiedenis24 Image Elfstedentocht in Oorlogstijd Expositie Fries Museum
35.
Jeen van den Berg
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Jeen van den Berg was a Dutch long track speed skating primarily known as the winner of the Elfstedentocht of 1954. He competed in the race a record seven times, with his first race being in 1947, on 3 February 1954, van den Berg finished the race in a record 7 hours and 35 minutes, a record finally bettered by Evert van Benthem 31 years later. He came third in the infamous 1963 race, in 1973 he became the first Dutch marathon skate champion. As a long-track speed skater, Van den Berg took part at the 1956 and 1960 Winter Olympics, in 1956 he finished 24th at the 5000 meters and in 1960 he ended 19th at the 5000 and 22nd at the 1500 meters. Married to Atty, van den Berg was a teacher by profession, in 2014 he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died in a nursing home on 8 October 2014 at the age of 86. Jeen van den Berg - Sports-Reference. com
36.
Evert van Benthem
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Evert van Benthem is a Dutch former speed skater who won the rarely raced Elfstedentocht twice in a row, in 1985 and 1986. Van Benthem, a farmer in Leeuwte, near Vollenhove in The Netherlands and he started racing in the A-class in 1983, which involved longer races, and finished third in the Dutch championship in 1985. In 1985, it had been 22 years since the last Elfstedentocht, which is skated on ice in Friesland. On February 21,1985, Van Benthem won the 13th Elfstedentocht, after 200 km on natural ice, he entered the final stretch into Leeuwarden together with Jan Kooiman, Jos Niesten and Henri Ruitenberg, all marathon speed skaters. Van Benthem won the sprint, completing the 196.8 kilometres in 6 hours 47 mins, one year later, on February 26,1986, the competition was on again. In the end, Rein Jonker and Robert Kamperman are ahead with Van Benthem, Van Benthem kept the lead and won again, with a time of 6 hours 55 mins 17 secs. The next Elfstedentocht took place in 1997, after Van Benthems retirement and he entered the event as a tourist, drawing much public attention. His brother, Henk van Benthem, finished fourth in the race, in the summer of 1999 Van Benthem and his family decided to move to Spruce View, Alberta, Canada. His Dutch farm was located in a preservation area and thus could not expand. Moreover, Van Benthem said he had tired of the attention. Van Benthem has a farm in Spruce View,320 hectares with 175 cows. An Alternative Elfstedentocht was organized since 2003, but van Benthems goal of having the Dutch top riders compete regularly did not come to fruition
37.
Henk Angenent
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Henk Angenent is a retired Dutch speed skater, specialising in marathon skating and the longer distances. Angenent won the Elfstedentocht on 4 January 1997, outsprinting favourite Erik Hulzebosch at the finish. On 12 March 2004 in Calgary, Angenent skated 41.669 km in one hour, which was the record in this event until 15 March 2007. The previous world record was Roberto Sighels 41.041 km from 24 March 1999 and he won a 4th place at the 10,000 metres of the 2003 World Single Distance Championships, after Bob de Jong, Carl Verheijen and Lasse Sætre. Earlier that year he became Dutch champion on the distance at the KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships. Angenent is a farmer, he grows mainly Brussels sprouts, after winning the Elfstedentocht many interviews were done with Angenent and this subject came up on many occasions. When marathon speedskating became more popular in the Netherlands and the Six Days of the Greenery were introduced, so far he wore the suit himself once in the 2000–01 season. He wore the suit for the leader of the Essent Cup a total of 13 days. With his 21 career wins of speed skating marathons on artificial tracks he is ranked 11th together with Henk Portengen and he is however 3rd in the ranking of still active skaters, behind Jan Maarten Heideman and Cédric Michaud. Angenent has an Adelskalender score of 160.177 points, Henk Angenent at SkateResults. com World records for one hour skating Personal records from Jakub Majerskis Speedskating Database
38.
De Fryske Marren
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De Fryske Marren is a municipality of Friesland in the northern Netherlands. It was established 1 January 2014 and consists of the municipalities of Gaasterlân-Sleat, Lemsterland, Skarsterlân and parts of Boarnsterhim. The municipality is located in the province of Friesland, in the north of the Netherlands, and has a population of 51,229 and a combined area of 559.93 km2. Municipal mergers are commonplace in the Netherlands, over the course of the 20th century the number of municipalities was reduced by more than half, from 1,121 in 1900 to 537 in 2000. Government policy at the time of the creation of De Friese Meren was that new mergers should have local support, the municipalities of Gaasterlân-Sleat, Lemsterland and Skarsterlân were all rural municipalities with a relatively highly developed tourism industry. In 2007 the first two evaluated their functioning as municipalities and both concluded they could benefit from a municipal merger, the following year all three municipal councils decided they were in favour of investigating the benefits of a merger. The report from this study was publicly available for eight weeks, one of these was from the municipality of Heerenveen, which suggested a merger between them and Lemsterland and Skarsterlân or, alternatively, only parts of Skarsterlân. A second merging discussion involved the dissolution of Boarnsterhim, the municipal council of Boarnsterhim concluded the municipality was too small to warrant the continued existence of a separate municipality. In the final advice regarding its dissolution it was suggested that the current municipality be split into four parts, one of these, the town of Terherne, would be included in De Friese Meren. After approval by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the creation of De Friese Meren became law in June 2013, De Friese Meren is the name specified for the municipality in the law that establishes it. The name is Dutch for The Frisian Lakes, in reference to the lakes in the area,1 July 2015 it was officially renamed De Fryske Marren. The municipality consists of 51 settlements of which Joure is the seat of government, Dutch topographic map of the municipality of De Fryske Marren, June 2015 Media related to De Fryske Marren at Wikimedia Commons Official website
39.
Dongeradeel
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Dongeradeel is a municipality in the northern Netherlands. Dongeradeel was created in 1984 from the merging of the old municipalities Westdongeradeel, Oostdongeradeel, the new municipality is still colloquially referred to in the plural, de Dongeradelen. Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Dongeradeel, June 2015, media related to Dongeradeel at Wikimedia Commons Official website
40.
Carinthia
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Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps, it is noted for its mountains and its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carinthian Slovene dialects, which predominated in the part of the region up to the first half of the 20th century, are now spoken by a small minority. Carinthias main industries are tourism, electronics, engineering, forestry, the multinational corporations Philips, Infineon and Siemens have large operations there. The etymology of the name “Carinthia”, similar to Carnia or Carniola, has not been conclusively established, the Ravenna Cosmography referred to a Slavic “Carantani” tribe as the eastern neighbours of the Bavarians. In his History of the Lombards, the 8th century chronicler Paul the Deacon mentions “Slavs in Carnuntum, likewise the Slovene name *korǫtanъ may have been adopted from the Latin *carantanum. The toponym Carinthia is also claimed to be related, deriving from pre-Slavic *carantia. The state stretches about 180 km in east-west and 70 km in north-south direction, with 9,536 km2 it is the fifth largest Austrian state by area. Most of the larger Carinthian towns and lakes are situated within the Klagenfurt Basin in the southeast and these Lower Carinthian lands differ from the mountainous Upper Carinthian region in the northwest, stretching up to the Alpine crest. The Carinthian lands are confined by mountain ranges, the Carnic Alps, the High Tauern mountain range with Mt Grossglockner,3,797 m, separates it from the state of Salzburg in the northwest. To the northeast and east beyond the Pack Saddle mountain pass is the state of Styria, the main river of Carinthia is the Drava, it makes up a continuous valley with East Tyrol to the west. Tributaries are the Gurk, the Glan, the Lavant, carinthias lakes including Wörther See, Millstätter See, Ossiacher See, and Faaker See are a major tourist attraction. The capital city is Klagenfurt, which in Slovenian is called Celovec, the next important town is Villach, both strongly linked economically. While some of these Slovene place names are official designations, the majority are Slovene colloquial usage, Carinthia has a humid continental climate, with hot and moderately wet summers and long harsh winters. In recent decades, winters have been exceptionally arid, the summer precipitation maxima often takes the form of heavy rain and thunderstorms, especially in the mountainous regions. The main Alpine ridge in the north is a divide with pronounced windward and leeward sides where foehn occurs regularly. Due to the terrain, numerous distinct microclimates exist. Nevertheless, the amount of sunshine hours is the highest of all states in Austria
41.
Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
42.
Eleven Cities Cycling Tour
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The Eleven Cities Cycling Tour was originally a bicycle race in Friesland, Netherlands, but now, due to the number of participants, has become a bicycle tour. It is the counterpart of the Elfstedentocht ice-skating tour which is held irregularly on frozen waterways in the same region. Due to the popularity of the Eleven Cities Skating tour, a tour was hosted for cyclist in the beginning of the 20th century. In 1912 the first cycling tour was organised and it started out as a competition, and was organised when the skating counterpart wasnt organised due to the weather. Since 1947, the tour has been organised annually on Whit Monday, although the tour started out as a race, from 1958 it was hosted as a tour in order to prevent serious injuries. Due to popular interest by non-professional cyclist, and the sometimes less-ideal conditions of the road, to prevent enthusiasts from racing anyway, participants are to keep in mind a maximum average speed of 25 km/h between check points. The cycling tours route differs from its counterpart on skates, the tour starts. The tour takes the participants through the ancient cities of the province of Frisia. The tour is limited to 15,000 entrants. Between 05,00 and 08,00, entrants leave Bolsward every eight minutes in batches of 600 participants and those who complete the 235 km tour before midnight are entitled to a medal. While most participants use a bicycle, other types of bikes can be seen as well. A small percentage participates on tandem bicycles, European city bicycles both with and without gears, rowing cycles and handcycles, even penny-farthings have been used for the tour. Home page Stichting Friese Elfsteden Rijwieltocht Bolswaard, Dutch website with English, French and Germans summaries
