history

The Façade Stones of Amsterdam
Get to know Amsterdam and its inhabitants through its carved façade stones decorating the canalside houses.

Brusselisation, Both an Urban Phenomenon and a Historical Milestone
The post-war transformation of Brussels was a traumatising experience for a large proportion of its population.
History of the Netherlands

Voyage Around the World on Sandals
On the eve of the First World War, three Dutch friends believed they could make the world a better place by walking around the globe and propagating socialism in Esperanto.

James Joyce’s Summer Holiday in Ostend
Belgium’s largest coastal town has its own unique connection to the Irish author.
Our Colonial Legacy

Polydore De Keyser, the Flemish Hotelier Who Became Lord Mayor of London
De Keyser was a celebrity in Britain and in his native Belgium. He once owned the biggest hotel in London.

Famines Are Part of Our Living Past
The impending famine caused by the war in Ukraine recalls previous famines: in Ireland, in Ukraine itself, but also in the Low Countries.
Migration, the Other Way Around

Duke Philip the Bold and the Looter’s Rule
Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, initiated a dynasty that would change the Low Countries forever.

Benefit Campaigns for Ukraine Fit Into a Historical Tradition
Charity has a long tradition in the Netherlands and the actions for Ukraine show many parallels to past events.
Going for Gold

The Fishy History of Dutch Herring
Eating herring is a Dutch tradition. This silvery, slimy fish is even part of their national identity, thanks to a myth about a humble herring fisherman.

Jacob Kats, a Forgotten Fighter and Pioneer of Brussels Socialism
He was admired by Rosa Luxemburg and visited by Bakunin, Marx and Engels, yet almost no one knows his name today. Nevertheless, Jacob Kats was one of the founders of socialism in the turbulent nineteenth century.

When Einstein Stayed on the Belgian Coast
The pretty beach town of De Haan in West Flanders is dotted with reminders of its most famous visitor.

Hidden Slavery Story Translated Into English for First Time
'Quaco – My Life in Slavery', the first major graphic novel about the Dutch history of slavery, is now available in English, thanks to modern languages students at the University of Sheffield.
How Missing Soldiers Regain Their Identity
An exhibition at the In Flanders Fields Museum shows how missing soldiers of the First World War have got their identity back thanks to archaeological and historical research.

Water as a Historical Timeline
A floating exhibition tells the story of a 200-year-old Belgo-Dutch canal Zuid-Willemsvaart.

The Fury of the Frisian Freedom Fighters
When the counts of Holland wanted to break the autonomy of Friesland, they incurred the wrath of the Frisian freedom fighters.

Hugo Grotius, Patriarch of International Law
He is best known as "the man who escaped from prison in a chest of books". But thanks to a new biography, we know that the seventeenth-century scholar was much more than that.

Ballooning Over Bullets, and Other Escapes From the Siege of Paris
When Paris was besieged by Prussian troops in 1870, the French used hot air balloons to transport mail and people across enemy lines. They also landed in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The Zeeland Slavery Monument: Sober Reminder of an Inhuman Trade
It is still something of a guilty secret, but Middelburg grew prosperous from the slave trade.

The Joys of Succession in Brabant
When John III, Duke of Brabant, died in 1355 without male heirs, his three daughters and their husbands claimed the inheritance with violence.

How Dutch Historians Unremembered Decolonization
Irish historian Paul Doolan claims that for many decades, Dutch historians have inadequately investigated the decolonization of Indonesia.