Schokland and Surroundings

Card No. 134

Schokland is a former island in the Dutch Zuiderzee. Schokland lost its status as an island when the Noordoostpolder was reclaimed from the sea in 1942. The remains are still visible as a slightly elevated part in the polder and by the still partly intact retaining wall of the waterfront of 'Middelbuurt'.

As a result from the increasing sea-level Schokland transformed from an attractive settlement area in the Middle Ages to a place under continuous threat by floods in the 19th century. By that time the Schoklanders had retreated to the three most elevated parts, Emmeloord, Molenbuurt, and Middelbuurt. A major flood in 1825 brought massive destruction, and in 1859 the government decided to end permanent settlement on Schokland. The former municipality of Schokland was joined to Kampen on the mainland.

Today Schokland is a popular archeological site and host to the Schokland Museum. Schokland was the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Netherlands.

Information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Droogmakerij de Beemster (Beemster Polder)

Card No. 131

This Postcard sent to me by Mike

Also, the Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake, the water being extracted out of the lake by windmills. The Beemster Polder was dried during the period 1609 through 1612. It has preserved intact its well-ordered landscape of fields, roads, canals, dykes and settlements, laid out in accordance with classical and Renaissance planning principles. A grid of canals parallels the grid of roads in the Beemster. The grids are offset: the larger feeder canals are offset by approximately one kilometer from the larger roads. Read more

Information and Image Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rietveld Schröderhuis (Rietveld Schröder House)

Card No.130

This Postcard sent to me by Mike

The Rietveld Schröder House also known as the Schröder House in Utrecht was built in 1924 by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld for Mrs. Truus Schröder-Schräder and her three children. She commissioned the house to be designed preferably without walls. Rietveld worked side by side with Schröder-Schräder to create the house. He sketched the first possible design for the building; Schroder-Schrader was not pleased. She envisioned a house that was free from association and could create a connection between the inside and outside. The house is one of the best known examples of De Stijl-architecture and arguably the only true De Stijl building. Mrs. Schröder lived in the house until her death in 1985. The house was restored by Bertus Mulder and now is a museum open for visits. It is a listed monument since 1976 and UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. Read more
Information and Image Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Defence Line of Amsterdam

Card No. 129

Sent to me by Mike
Defence Line of Amsterdam is a 135 km long ring of fortifications around Amsterdam, consisting of 42 forts located between 10 to 15 kilometers the centre, and lowlands that can easily be flooded in time of war. The flooding was designed to give a depth of about 30 cm, insufficient for boats to traverse. Any buildings within 1 km of the line had to be made of wood, so that they could be burnt and the obstruction removed. The Stelling van Amsterdam was constructed between 1880 and 1920. The invention of the aeroplane and tank made the forts obsolete almost as soon as they were finished. Many of the forts now are under the control of the town councils and the nature department, and may be visited. Read more

Information and Image Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seventeenth-century canal ring area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht

Card No 115Another WH-UNESCO postcard from postcrossing Stenne

Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, has been called the "Venice of the North" for its more than one hundred kilometres of canals, about 90 islands and 1,500 bridges. The three main canals, Herengracht, Prinsengracht, and Keizersgracht, dug in the 17th century during the Dutch Golden Age, form concentric belts around the city, known as the grachtengordel. Alongside the main canals are 1550 monumenthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifal buildings. The 17th-century canal ring area, including the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Herengracht and Jordaan, are put on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Read more

Notable canals in the Canal Belt

Singel
Herengracht
Keizersgracht
Prinsengracht

Other notable canals

Zwanenburgwal
Brouwersgracht
Kloveniersburgwal
Brantasgracht, Lamonggracht, Majanggracht and Seranggracht

Information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout

Card no. 109

Another WH-UNESCO postcard from postcrossing by Cecile

Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout

Card # 56 Another WH-UNESCO postcard from postcrossing, Marleen

Kinderdijk is a village in the Netherlands, belonging to the municipality of Nieuw-Lekkerland, in the province South Holland, about 15 km east of Rotterdam.

Kinderdijk is situated in a polder at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers. To drain the polder, a system of 19 windmills was built around 1740. This group of mills is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands.

The windmills of Kinderdijk are one of the best known Dutch tourist sites. They were placed on the list of UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997. Read more

Information Obtained From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia