Realm of 1,000 Islands.
A maze of water and soil TEXT: ARNE ADRIAENSSENS
The northern tip of North Holland harbours one of the Netherlands’ bestkept secrets: the water-drenched landscape of Langedijk and Heerhugowaard. With its multitude of islands, picturesque views and interesting Museum BroekerVeiling, it is a great destination all year long. Yet, during June, the region boasts a new, temporary attraction on its territory. The Realm of a Thousand Islands. Although it might sound like a faraway destination from a fairy tale, it is actually a magnificent green area close to home. In the north-east of the Netherlands, this patchwork of elements unfolds. “1,000 years ago, this place was a swamp,” says Ron Karels, director of the nearby Museum BroekerVeiling. “The muddy wa20 | Issue 65 | May 2019
ter was too deep to walk through but too shallow to take a boat through as well. Therefore, the locals dug small channels through it for their boats, creating tiny islands with the soil they’d shovelled up. In total, they created around 15,000 of these small pieces of land. Because of the sludge, they were also very fertile, attracting local farmers to grow crops on them.” During the 1970s, however, agriculture on small parcels like these was no longer profitable and the beautiful area got drained to make room for a big residential neighbourhood. Only a small part with around 300 islands remained intact and is now a protected reserve. “Luckily, this preserved part is a very interesting one. Not only because of the big pond in the middle, but also because of its interesting buildings like the windmill, the
old gardener’s houses and the BroekerVeiling, the last remaining vegetable auction of the region.”
Dutch auctioning Up until the late 19th century, the farmers would sell their produce at the docks through a bidding system. Throughout the years, more and more buyers would appear, stretching the bidding process longer and longer. To counter this, the farmers came up with a reverse-auction procedure, where they started with a high price and went down until someone was willing to buy it. To date, nearly all fruit and vegetable auctions in the world operate with this so-called ‘Dutch auctioning’. In 1912, the economic activity moved from the harbour to a first real auction house: the BroekerVeiling. “It was a sail-through