Netherlands in 1966 Through Beautiful Vintage Photos

Government-encouraged emigration efforts to reduce population density prompted some 500,000 Dutch people to leave the country after the war.

The 1960s and 1970s were a time of great social and cultural change, such as rapid de-pillarisation characterized by the decay of the old divisions along political and religious lines. Youths, and students in particular, rejected traditional mores and pushed for change in matters such as women’s rights, sexuality, disarmament and environmental issues.

These amazing photos from Yvonne Thompson were taken by her father that show street scenes of the Netherlands in 1966.

Amsterdam. Haarlemmermeerstation, Netherlands, 1966

Amsterdam. Havenstraat, Netherlands, 1966

Canal houseboats, Netherlands, 1966

Caravans, holiday makers, family campground, Netherlands, 1966

Delft street scenes, Netherlands, 1966

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Black and White Photos Capture Street Scenes of Amsterdam in the 1970s

Throughout the 1970s, Amsterdam experienced rapid development. To reduce the use of automobiles, city planners have favored public transportation. Trams remain the primary transportation mode in inner Amsterdam, while buses play a critical role in outer districts. A high-speed metro line opened in 1976, and a new fast rail line to Schiphol was opened in 1988.

The cultural revolution of the 1970s made Amsterdam the magisch centrum (magical centre) of Europe. A tolerant attitude toward soft drugs made the city a favorite haunt of hippies. There were many radical movements in the 1970s, some highly political and rigidly structured, but many played out in street theatre, satirical and playful.

These black and white photos were taken by pszz that show what Amsterdam looked like in the 1970s.

Ice cream seller, Amsterdam

Amsterdam canal tour

Amsterdam canal

Amsterdam canal

Amsterdam canal

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30 Amazing Photos of Bergen, North Holland in the 1910s

Bergen is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its North Sea beaches make it a popular destination for tourists.

Bergen, North Holland in the 1910s

Since about 1900, Bergen has been the home of many painters, writers and architects. Some of the work of this “Bergen School” is on exhibit at Museum Kranenburgh. The neighbourhood of Park Meerwijk, constructed in 1915, is made up entirely of villas in Amsterdam School style. There are regular art fairs in Bergen, as well as an annual music festival (the Holland Music Sessions in August) and arts festival (the Kunsttiendaagse in October).

North of the town of Bergen are the Schoorlse Duinen, a nature area with the highest and widest dunes of the Netherlands, which reach about 59m (195 ft) above sea level, and are more than 5 km (3.1 mi) wide in some places. Other points of interest in the municipality include the aquarium in the seaside village of Bergen aan Zee, the Auto Union Museum in Bergen with a collection of classic cars, and the historical museums Het Sterkenhuis (Bergen) and Museum van Egmond (Egmond aan Zee).

These amazing photos from Archief Alkmaar Commons were taken by photographer A.J. Bonda that show street scenes of Bergen and surroundings in the 1910s.

Bergen ruin church, circa 1914

Cyclists and walkers at café-lodging "Duinzicht" on the Herenweg, 1914

Dairy factory ''Wilhelmina'', 1914

Elzenlaan 2-4. View of "House Russenduin". The country house with stable building and driver's house, built in 1916-1917 for August Janssen, 1914

Karel de Grotelaan seen in a westerly direction, 1914

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36 Vintage Photos of a Peasant Wedding in the Schermer in 1942

Two years after the German troops invaded the Netherlands, the small village of Stompetoren filled with curious audiences. They saw that on that Sunday, April 26, 1942, not only many photographers (according to some, as many as 80!), but even the reporters of the Polygoon news had come to the Schermer. There, in the old school building where the municipal secretariat was temporarily located, the wedding would be solemnized between the 23-year-old bride Geertje Elisabeth Helder and the 24-year-old groom Piet Korver.

Not an ordinary wedding, because at the initiative of the mayor of the municipality of Oterleek, Jacob Posch, the wedding was celebrated entirely in the old West Frisian tradition. Complete with costumes, old carriages and traditional customs.

The engaged were both born and raised in the Schermer and came from local cattle ranching families. Recently, the children of the then newlyweds donated the photo album of the wedding day to the Regional Archive.

The bridal couple, like many guests, was dressed in an original West Frisian costume. The bride’s “golden iron” was striking. Originating from a clip to keep the hat in place, this had grown into a piece of jewelry, with the projections (the ‘books’) often richly decorated. In this unique example, the ‘books’ were more than twice as large as normal. The groom wore the traditional black wedding suit, with long white stockings. With an original silver sheath knife from 1780 put in the pocket and of course an old-fashioned pipe was also present.

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20 Amazing Photochrom Prints of Amsterdam From the Late 19th Century

The 17th century is considered Amsterdam’s Golden Age, during which it became the wealthiest city in the western world. Ships sailed from Amsterdam to the Baltic Sea, North America, and Africa, as well as present-day Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Brazil, forming the basis of a worldwide trading network. Amsterdam’s merchants had the largest share in both the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company. These companies acquired overseas possessions that later became Dutch colonies.

The end of the 19th century is sometimes called Amsterdam’s second Golden Age. New museums, a railway station, and the Concertgebouw were built; in this same time, the Industrial Revolution reached the city. The Amsterdam–Rhine Canal was dug to give Amsterdam a direct connection to the Rhine, and the North Sea Canal was dug to give the port a shorter connection to the North Sea. Both projects dramatically improved commerce with the rest of Europe and the world.

Here below is a set of amazing Photochrom prints from Library of Congress that shows street scenes of Amsterdam around 1890.

Amsterdam. Blue bridge and the Amstel River, circa 1890

Amsterdam Centraal Station, circa 1890

Amsterdam Post Office, circa 1890

Amsterdam. Dam Square with the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) on the left, circa 1890

Amsterdam. De Waag or weighing house at right, originally a gate in the city walls and now a subway station, Nieuwmarkt, circa 1890

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Amazing Photos Show Interior Design of Dutch Houses in the 1920s and ’30s

The first architecture exhibitions in the Netherlands were held from about the middle of the 19th century, a result of the growing professionalization of architecture. The driving forces behind this were the architectural society ‘Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst (Society for the Promotion of Architecture) and the ‘Genootschap Architectura et Amicitia’ (The Architectura et Amicitia Society). They soon discovered the propagandistic and educational value of exhibitions. The emergence of large-scale, international exhibitions towards the end of the 19th century led to a demand for a centrally headed ‘representative Dutch delegation’.

Interior design of Dutch houses in the 1920s and 1930s

To meet this demand, the ‘Tentoonstellingsraad voor Bouwkunst en verwante kunsten’ (The Exhibition Council for Architecture and Related Arts) was set up around 1920, with the aim of organizing exhibitions to ‘promote the flourishing of the arts‘. Representatives of various societies in the field of architecture as well as in the ornamental, artisanal and applied arts served on the council.

In the period between 1925 and 1935, a collection of photographs was built up to draw attention to the cream of the crop of Dutch architecture. The collection was used in countless exhibitions, including the World Fairs in Paris in 1925 and Brussels in 1935. The photographs of the Council were intended to paint an ideal picture: they emphazise the artistic and aesthetic manifestations of architecture.

This set of amazing photos from Het Nieuwe Instituut is part of the Exhibition Council collection that shows interior design of Dutch houses in the 1920s and 1930s.

Country house 'De Luifel' interior, Wassenaar, 1924

Country house interior, Wassenaar, 1926

Zonzij house interior, Rotterdam, 1926

Dining room wainscot, Borne, 1927

Park Marlot country house interior, Den Haag, 1928

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Amazing Vintage Photographs of Amsterdam Taken by George Hendrik Breitner From the 1890s to the 1910s

George Hendrik Breitner (September 12, 1857 – June 5, 1923) was a Dutch painter and photographer. An important figure in Amsterdam Impressionism, he is noted especially for his paintings of street scenes and harbors in a realistic style: wooden foundation piles by the harbor, demolition work and construction sites in the old center, horse trams on the Dam, or canals in the rain. Breitner saw himself as “le peintre du peuple”, the people’s painter, and preferred to work with working-class models: laborers, servant girls and people from the lower class districts.

By 1890, cameras were affordable, and Breitner became very interested in this particular instrument that could help provide reference materials for his paintings. The discovery in 1996 of a large collection of photographic prints and negatives made it clear that Breitner was a talented photographer of street photography. He took various pictures of the same subject, from different perspectives or in different weather conditions. On other occasions, Breitner used photography for general reference, to capture an atmosphere, a light effect or the weather in the city at a particular moment.

Take a look at these 28 stunning vintage black and white photographs of the streets and people of Amsterdam from the 1890s to the 1910s taken by Breitner:

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DAF-Domburg Diesel Bus With Slide Out Motor for Ease of Maintenance

1949 innovation where the motor can be “taken out” of the bus, literally, so it can be easily serviced, repaired, and even removed from the subframe altogether.

DAF Trucks is a Dutch truck manufacturing company and a division of Paccar. Its headquarters and main plant are in Eindhoven. Cabs and axle assemblies are produced at its Westerlo plant in Belgium. Some of the truck models sold with the DAF brand are designed and built by Leyland Trucks at its Leyland plant in England.

In 1928, Hubert “Hub” van Doorne founded the company as Commanditaire Vennootschap Hub van Doorne’s Machinefabriek. His co-founder and investor was A. H. Huenges, managing director of a brewery. In 1932, the company, by then run by Hub and his brother, Wim van Doorne, changed its name to Van Doorne’s Aanhangwagen Fabriek (Van Doorne’s Trailer Factory), abbreviated to DAF. Huenges left the company in 1936 and the DAF company was then completely in the hands of the van Doorne brothers.

After World War II luxury cars and trucks were very scarce. This meant a big opportunity for DAF. In 1949, the company started making trucks, trailers and buses, changing its name to Van Doorne’s Automobiel Fabriek (Van Doorne’s Automobile Factory). The first lorry model was the DAF A30.

Through the 1950s, DAF was a major supplier to the re-equipping of the Dutch Army’s softskin vehicles. In the end of 1954, Hub van Doorne had the idea to use belt drive, just like many of the machines in the factory that were belt-driven, to drive road vehicles. In 1955, DAF produced its first drafts of a car belt drive system. Over the next few years, the design was developed and refined.

42 Beautiful Photos of the Netherlands in the Early 1960s

The post-war years were a time of hardship, shortages and natural disaster for the Netherlands. This was followed by large-scale public works programs, economic recovery, European integration and the gradual introduction of a welfare state.

Government-encouraged emigration efforts to reduce population density prompted some 500,000 Dutch people to leave the country after the war. The 1960s and 1970s were a time of great social and cultural change, such as rapid de-pillarisation characterized by the decay of the old divisions along political and religious lines.

Youths, and students in particular, rejected traditional mores and pushed for change in matters such as women’s rights, sexuality, disarmament and environmental issues.

These beautiful color photos from huebner family photos that captured street scenes of the Netherlands in July 1961.

Amsterdam. View of the River Amstel and Rokin Street, 1961

Amsterdam. The Green Lantern Restaurant, 1961

Beach scene, somewhere in the Netherlands, 1961

Camping site, somewhere in the Netherlands, 1961

Cattle at pasture, with windmills, somewhere in the Netherlands, 1961

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Crossdressing in the Hartjesdag Festival in Amsterdam, ca. 1900

Originally Hartjesdag (Day of Hearts) was a festival celebrated on the third Monday in August in the Dutch areas of Haarlem and Bloemendaal and in various parts of Amsterdam, particularly around the Haarlemmerplein, in the Jordaan, and in the Dapperbuurt. On Hartjesdag fires were kindled and children collected money. Later it developed itself into a type of cross-dressing carnival, where men dressed as women, and women dressed as men.

Where the name Hartjesdag comes from is not clear. Probably it has arisen in the Middle Ages. It is suspected that the name is a bastardisation of ‘hertjesdag’ (Deer Day). This was a festival where in the forests around Haarlem deer (herten) hunting could be done by the ordinary people, which was normally reserved for nobility. The deer were then taken to Amsterdam and roasted in the streets.

During the German occupation in 1943 the Hartjesdag became prohibited, and after the war it eventually became obsolete.

In 1997 a local committee in the Zeedijk, Amsterdam, decided to see if they could revive the tradition. Each year since then, the festival has flourished into a two-day event on the 3rd weekend in August.

30 Amazing Photos Capture Street Scenes of Amsterdam During World War II

Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 and took control of the country. Some Amsterdam citizens sheltered Jews, thereby exposing themselves and their families to a high risk of being imprisoned or sent to concentration camps.

More than 100,000 Dutch Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps, of whom some 60,000 lived in Amsterdam. In response, the Dutch Communist Party organized the February strike attended by 300,000 people to protest against the raids.

At the end of the Second World War, communication with the rest of the country broke down, and food and fuel became scarce. Many citizens travelled to the countryside to forage. Dogs, cats, raw sugar beets, and tulip bulbs—cooked to a pulp—were consumed to stay alive. Many trees in Amsterdam were cut down for fuel, and wood was taken from the houses, apartments and other buildings of deported Jews.

In the spring of 1945, Canadian forces liberated Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands.

These amazing photos from janwillemsen captured street scenes of Amsterdam in 1940 and 1941.

Amsterdam Prins Hendrikkade/Centraal Station, 1940

Amsterdam Amstel near Hogesluis, 1940

Amsterdam Amstel, 1940

Amsterdam bridge Leidsestraat, 1940

Amsterdam Damrak, 1940

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