NL3

This last post on Leiden focuses on a “block” of water at about the 10:00 position if you imagine the moat as a clock face. It’s the waterway between Morsweg and Morsstraat below, referred to as the “historical harbor,” where the requirement for free dockage is that the vessels must pre-date 1940 and have been cargo carriers at one time.

An amazing fact for me is that although these boats are old, that building in the center–Stadstimmerwerf or municipal carpentry yard– is much older,  built in 1612;  Rembrant was born in 1606, just slightly to the left of where I stood to take that photo, i.e., as a kid, he likely watched that building going up!!

It served as municipal carpentry yard until 1988!  Then it was turned into senior housing, a purpose it still has today.

The red-striped vessel above and below, Antje Rebecca, was built in 1928 as a kagenaar, a local design of barge.  Mast and motor were first added in 1936.  I put a a photo of unaltered  kagenaars–no power–at the end of this post.

Here’s a stern view with tender.

 

The windmill is a replica of one that was built in 1619, i.e., when Rembrant was a teenager. The bridge is also a replica of one that stood there in Rembrant’s lifetime.

 

Sorry, I can’t tell you the story of De Liefde . .  aka the dear.  She is a converted cargo vessel of the sort still intensively used in inland waterways of northern Europe.  Here’s a database, but it’s all in Dutch.

Click here for some of the highlights of Leiden.  It saw its golden age–also the age of Rembrant–less than half a century after the liberation of the city from Spanish rule by a motley crew referred to as the Sea Beggars, who entered the city via the moat and waterways.

Antoinette Christina, built in 1924, is classified as a luxe motor because it was built with engine and other conveniences.

Read about it here.

 

Below are–I believe–examples of kagenaars, many of which are converted into wharf extensions used as drinking/eating platforms.

 

All photo by Will Van Dorp, who will focus on another Dutch town tomorrow.

In case you missed Robert’s comment yesterday and if you are headed to the Netherlands soon, here are some events where you can see many of these restored vessels underway:  National Tugboat Days in Zwartsluis and  Tugboat Days in Elberg.  As another database, check out the tug and push boat trade site.   If you want to try to struggle through some info, here’s a free translator I sometimes use for a host of languages.

Here’s another.

And just an idea, if there might be a group of folks looking to go over together, we might consider seeing about organizing a trip over and a tour.  And I’m just planting a seed for what could be lots of fun although a fair amount of work.  Here’s the event I went to in 2014;  it’ll happen this May and then again in 2018.  A group could qualify for discounts, and I have some contacts and language skills.