1.
Dutch language
–
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
2.
Amsterdam
–
Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
3.
Dutch East India Company
–
It is often considered to be the worlds first truly transnational corporation and the first company in history to actually issue bonds and shares of stock to the general public. In other words, the VOC was officially the first publicly traded company of the world, the company was also considered by many to be the very first major and the greatest corporation in history. Statistically, the VOC eclipsed all of its rivals in international trade for almost 200 years of existence. Between 1602 and 1796 the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, the VOC enjoyed huge profits from its spice monopoly through most of the 17th century. Having been set up in 1602, to profit from the Malukan spice trade, in 1619 the VOC established a capital in the city of Jayakarta. Over the next two centuries the Company acquired additional ports as trading bases and safeguarded their interests by taking over surrounding territory and it remained an important trading concern and paid an 18% annual dividend for almost 200 years. Around the world and especially in English-speaking countries, the VOC is widely known as the Dutch East India Company, the name ‘Dutch East India Company’ is used to make a distinction with the East India Company and other East Indian companies. The abbreviation VOC stands for Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie in Dutch, the VOC monogram was possibly the first globally-recognized corporate logo. The logo of the VOC consisted of a large capital V with an O on the left and it appeared on various corporate items, such as cannon and coins. The first letter of the hometown of the conducting the operation was placed on top. An Australian vintner has used the VOC logo since the late 20th century, the flag of the company was orange, white, and blue, with the company logo embroidered on it. Before the Dutch Revolt, Antwerp had played an important role as a centre in northern Europe. At the same time, the Portuguese trade system was unable to supply to satisfy growing demand. Demand for spices was relatively inelastic, and therefore each lag in the supply of pepper caused a rise in pepper prices. These three factors motivated Dutch merchants to enter the spice trade themselves. Further, a number of Dutchmen like Jan Huyghen van Linschoten and Cornelis de Houtman obtained first hand knowledge of the secret Portuguese trade routes and practices, thereby providing opportunity. The stage was set for Houtmans 1595 four-ship exploratory expedition to Banten, the main pepper port of West Java. Houtmans expedition then sailed east along the north coast of Java, losing twelve crew to a Javanese attack at Sidayu, half the crew were lost before the expedition made it back to the Netherlands the following year, but with enough spices to make a considerable profit
4.
Pilaster
–
The pilaster is an architectural element in classical architecture used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the wall surface, usually treated as though it were a column, with a capital at the top, plinth at the bottom. In contrast to a pilaster, a column or buttress can support the structure of a wall. It may be defined as a column which has lost its three-dimensional. A pilaster appears with a capital and entablature, also in low-relief or flattened against the wall and these vertical elements can also be used to support a recessed archivolt around a doorway. The pilaster can be replaced by ornamental brackets supporting the entablature or a balcony over a doorway, when a pilaster appears at the corner intersection of two walls it is known as a canton. As with a column, a pilaster can have a plain or fluted surface to its profile, during the Renaissance and Baroque architects used a range of pilaster forms. In the giant order pilasters appear as tall, linking floors in a single unit
5.
Hendrick de Keyser
–
Hendrick de Keyser was a Dutch sculptor and architect born in Utrecht, Netherlands, who was instrumental in establishing a late Renaissance form of Mannerism in Amsterdam. He was the father of Thomas de Keyser who was an architect, as a young man the Utrecht-born artist Hendrick de Keyser was apprenticed to master Cornelis Bloemaert the elder. At the age of 26 he followed Bloemaert to Amsterdam, soon he set to work as an independent artist. When his talent became generally appreciated he was appointed city stonemason, in fact his duties included all of the tasks now associated with the job of city architect. De Keyser is famous for a number of important buildings which belong to the core of Dutch historic sites, today the Zuiderkerk and accompanying tower, the Delft Town Hall, the Westerkerk and Westertoren are among the historic buildings which provide important insights into De Keyser’s work. His Commodity Exchange of 1608-1613 was pulled down in the 19th century, Hendrick de Keysers projects in Amsterdam during the early decades of the 17th century helped establish a late Mannerist style referred to as Amsterdam Renaissance. The Amsterdam Renaissance style deviates in many respects from sixteenth-century Italian Renaissance architecture, classical elements such as pilasters, cornices and frontons were used on a large scale, but mainly as decorative elements. De Keyser never slavishly followed the tenets of classical architecture as laid down in the Italian treatises. His version came to bloom at the end of the second decade of the 17th century. The East India House in Amsterdam was most likely designed by him. Apart from pursuing a career as an architect, De Keyser remained active as a sculptor and he designed the tomb of William the Silent for the Nieuwe Kerk at Delft. However, De Keyser did not live to see the finished product and he died in Amsterdam, and his son Pieter completed the project. In 1631, ten years after De Keyser’s death, Cornelis Danckertsz included the architect’s most important sketches in his book ’Architectura Moderna’, De Keysers career was not limited to Amsterdam, and his international contacts helped him to keep in touch with the mainstream of European architecture. The Amsterdam city administrators sent him to England where he worked with Inigo Jones, Jones was the first English architect who went to Italy to learn all he could about classical architecture. He studied the famous treatises written by the Roman architect Vitruvius, the Banqueting House in London, designed for the Stuart monarchs, became the prototype of classical architecture in England. When De Keyser returned to Amsterdam one of Jones’ assistants, Nicholas Stone, Stone worked with De Keyser in Amsterdam from 1607 to 1613 and even became his son-in-law. De Keyser attention to England and English architecture reflect Amsterdams position as a centre in Europe. 1611, Beurs van Hendrick de Keyser, Rokin, Amsterdam, 1614-1623, Praalgraf Willem van Oranje, Delft
6.
Arsenal
–
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury or armory are mostly regarded as synonyms, although differences in usage exist. A sub-armory is a place of storage or carrying of weapons and ammunition. From Italian, arsenale, and French, arsenal, from Arabic, دار تعبئة, dār a-tabiya, in a second-class arsenal, the factories would be replaced by workshops. The situation of an arsenal should be governed by strategic considerations. If of the first class, it should be situated at the base of operations and supply, secure from attack, not too near a frontier, the importance of a large arsenal is such that its defences would be on the scale of those of a large fortress. The usual subdivision of branches in a great arsenal is into storekeeping, under construction, Gun factory, carriage factory, laboratory, small-arms factory, harness and tent factory, powder factory, etc. In a second-class arsenal there would be instead of these factories. Frederick Taylor introduced command and control techniques to arsenals, including the U. S. s Watertown Arsenal, armorer Dresden Armory Halifax Armoury Harpers Ferry Armory Kremlin Armoury Royal Arsenal Royal Armouries Springfield Armory Zeughaus Magazine
7.
Kloveniersburgwal, Amsterdam
–
Kloveniersburgwal is an Amsterdam canal flowing south from Nieuwmarkt to the Amstel River on the edge of the medieval city, lying east of the dam in the centre of Amsterdam. The Kloveniersburgwal was dug at the end of the 15th century, the Geldersekade, the Singel and the Kloveniersburgwal together formed the city wall around the city. After the Nieuwe Gracht was dug and the new city walls were built, the old city wall was taken down and they built houses on it instead. The east side became populated in the 17th century and has a few grand mansions, like the Trippenhuis, the name Kloveniersburgwal comes from a division of the civic guards, the kloveniers, named after the gun the guards were armed with. The kloveniers met at the Kloveniersdoelen next to Swijgh Utrecht on the corner of the Kloveniersburgwal, later on their groupportrait, the famous painting De Nachtwacht, hung in the Kloveniersdoelen. Nowadays, it is exhibited in the Rijksmuseum, Swijgh Utrecht was completely destroyed in 1882, the Doelenhotel was built there instead. During the Second World War, starting in February 1941, Kloveniersburgwal was the border of the Jewish quarter, in the Jodenhoek between Centraal Station, Kloveniersburgwal, Waterlooplein, Valkenburgerstraat, and Prins Hendrikkade, there lived more than 25,000 Jews. Kloveniersburgwal was popular with administrators at the Dutch East India Company, being close to its center on Oude Hoogstraat, compagnietheater, Kloveniersburgwal 50, Literair theater Perdu, Kloveniersburgwal 86, Doelenzaal, Kloveniersburgwal 87-89
8.
Batavian Republic
–
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795, and ended on 5 June 1806, in early 1795, intervention by French revolutionary forces led to the downfall of the old Dutch Republic. The new Republic enjoyed widespread support from the Dutch population and was the product of a popular revolution. Nevertheless, it clearly was founded with the support of the revolutionary French Republic. The political, economic and social reforms that were brought about during the short duration of the Batavian Republic have had a lasting impact. The confederal structure of the old Dutch Republic was permanently replaced by a unitary state, for the first time in Dutch history, the constitution that was adopted in 1798 had a genuinely democratic character. For a while the Republic was governed democratically, although the coup détat of 1801 put an authoritarian regime in power, after another change in constitution, nevertheless, the memory of this brief experiment with democracy helped smooth the transition to a more democratic government in 1848. A type of government was introduced for the first time in Dutch history. The new king, Louis Bonaparte, surprisingly did not slavishly follow French dictates either, the final days of the intermittent constitutional monarchy/republic, the Dutch Republic, which had governed the Netherlands since the late 16th century, were quite eventful. Most Patriots went into exile in France, while Hollands own Ancien Régime strengthened its grip on Dutch government chiefly through the Orangist Grand Pensionary Laurens Pieter van de Spiegel. Only two years later, the French Revolution began, which embraced many of the ideas that the Patriots had espoused in their own revolt. The Stadtholder joined the ill-fated First Coalition of countries in their attempt to subdue the suddenly anti-Austrian French First Republic, however, in many cities revolution broke out even before the French arrived and Revolutionary Committees took over the city governments, and the national government also. William was forced to flee to England on a boat on 18 January 1795. Though the French presented themselves as liberators, they behaved like conquerors, apart from imposing territorial concessions and a huge indemnity, this obligated the Dutch to maintain a French army of occupation of 25,000 men. However, this did not mean that it lost its independence in all respects, the program of reform that the Dutch revolutionaries attempted to put in place was mostly driven by indigenous needs and aspirations. The political events in the Netherlands were mainly derived from Dutch initiative, the French were responsible for at least one of the coups détat, and the French ambassador often acted as a proconsul. At first, the revolutionaries used the constitutional machinery of the old confederal republic and they resumed where they had left off after the purge in 1787 of Patriot regents, taking over the offices of the Orangist regents that were now purged in their turn. Though the political make-up of the States-General changed appreciably because of change in personnel
9.
University of Amsterdam
–
The University of Amsterdam is a public university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities and later renamed for the city of Amsterdam and it is one of the largest research universities in Europe with 31,186 students,4,794 staff,1,340 PhD students and an annual budget of €600 million. It is the largest university in the Netherlands by enrollment, the main campus is located in central Amsterdam, with a few faculties located in adjacent boroughs. The university is organised into seven faculties, Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Science, Law, Medicine, the University of Amsterdam has produced six Nobel Laureates and five prime ministers of the Netherlands. In 2014, it was ranked 50th in the world, 15th in Europe, in January 1632, the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam was founded by the municipal authorities in Amsterdam. It was mainly devoted to medical teaching, the first two professors were Gerardus Vossius and Caspar Barlaeus. The Athenaeum Illustre provided education comparable to higher education institutions. After training at the Athenaeum, students could complete their education at a university in another town, Amsterdams large degree of religious freedom allowed for the establishment of these institutions. Students of the Colegium Chirugicum and the institutions regularly attended classes at the Athenaeum Illustre. ”The Athenaeum began offering classes for students attending non-academic professional training in pharmacy. The Athenaeum remained an institution until the 19th century, with no more than 250 students. Alumni of the Athenaeum include Cornelis Petrus Tiele, in 1877, the Athenuem Illustre became the Municipal University of Amsterdam and received the right to confer doctoral degrees. This gave the university the same privileges as national universities while being funded by the city of Amsterdam, the professors and lecturers were appointed by the municipal council. This resulted in a staff that was in ways more colorful than the staffs of national universities. The University of Amsterdams municipal status brought about the relatively early addition of the faculties of Economics, after the World War II the dramatic rise in the cost of university education put a constraint on the university’s growth. In 1961 the national government made the university a national university, giving it its current name, funding was now given by the national government instead of the city and the appointment of professors was transferred to the Board of Governors. The city of Amsterdam retained a limited influence until 1971, when the appointment was handed over to the Executive Board, the protest lasted for days and was eventually broken up by the police. During the 1970s and 1980s, the university was often the target of nationwide student actions, the university saw considerable expansion since becoming a national university, from 7,500 students in 1960 to over 32,000 in 2010. In 2007, UvA undertook the construction of the Science Park Amsterdam, much of the park has now been completed
10.
Rotterdam
–
Rotterdam is a city in the Netherlands, located in South Holland, within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt river delta at the North Sea. Its history goes back to 1270 when a dam was constructed in the Rotte river by people settled around it for safety, in 1340 Rotterdam was granted city rights by the Count of Holland and slowly grew into a major logistic and economic centre. Nowadays it is home to Europes largest port and has a population of 633,471, ranking second in the Netherlands, just behind Amsterdam. The Greater Rijnmond area is home to approximately 1.4 million people, Rotterdam is part of the yet larger Randstad conurbation with a total population of 7,100,000. The city of Rotterdam is known for the Erasmus University, riverside setting, lively cultural life, the near-complete destruction of Rotterdams city centre during World War II has resulted in a varied architectural landscape including sky-scrapers, which are an uncommon sight in other Dutch cities. Rotterdam is home to some world-famous architecture from renowned architects like Rem Koolhaas, Piet Blom, Ben van Berkel and others. Recently Rotterdam was listed eighth in The Rough Guide Top 10 Cities to Visit, the port of Rotterdam is the largest cargo port in Europe and the 10th largest in the world. Rotterdams logistic success is based on its location on the North Sea. The rivers Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt give waterway access into the heart of Western Europe, the extensive distribution system including rail, roads, and waterways have earned Rotterdam the nickname Gateway to Europe, and, conversely, Gateway to the World in Europe. The settlement at the end of the fen stream Rotte dates from at least 900 CE. A dam on the Rotte or Rotterdam was built in the 1260s and was located at the present-day Hoogstraat, on 7 July 1340, Count Willem IV of Holland granted city rights to Rotterdam, which then had approximately 2,000 inhabitants. The port of Rotterdam grew slowly but steadily into a port of importance, becoming the seat of one of the six chambers of the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the greatest spurt of growth, both in port activity and population, followed the completion of the Nieuwe Waterweg in 1872. The city and harbor started to expand on the bank of the river. The Witte Huis or White House skyscraper, inspired by American office buildings and built in 1898 in the French Château-style, is evidence of Rotterdams rapid growth, when completed, it was the tallest office building in Europe, with a height of 45 m. During World War I the city was the worlds largest spy centre because of Dutch neutrality, many spies who were arrested and executed in Britain were led by German secret agents operating from Rotterdam. MI6 had its main European office on de Boompjes, from there the British coordinated espionage in Germany and occupied Belgium. In WWI an average of 25,000 Belgian refugees lived in the city, as well as hundreds of German deserters, during World War II, the German army invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Adolf Hitler had hoped to conquer the country in just one day, the Dutch army was finally forced to capitulate on 15 May 1940, following Hitlers bombing of Rotterdam on 14 May and threatening to bomb other Dutch cities
.jpg)
