On the west bank of the mighty river Rhine, halfway between the cities Koblenz and Mainz, lies the town of Sankt Goar. Named after Saint Goar of Aquitaine who retreated here in the sixth century. Diagonally across the river stands the famous and mystical Lorelei rock. Steep, and over 130 meters high. A whisper rockContinue reading “Little prayers at the Lorelei rock”
Tag Archives: business men
To the end where it all began: ribbon Ribe
Let’s go to the omega, the end of the Frisia Coast Trail. To Ribe in southern Jutland, Denmark. The oldest town of Scandinavia. A town located on the banks of the river Ribe Å. A modest river which flows out into the Wadden Sea opposite the islands Fanø and Mandø. Ribe started as a seasonalContinue reading “To the end where it all began: ribbon Ribe”
Happy Hunting Grounds in the Arctic
If you want to find out who’s responsible for killing the whale, the Frisia Coast Trail area is the prime spot to look. When you stop people on the streets in this coastal region and ask them if they have knowledge of who did it, they probably will respond with: “I hear nothing, I seeContinue reading “Happy Hunting Grounds in the Arctic”
The Batwing Doors of Northwest Europe
“Is seaport the Maasvlakte the gateway of northwestern Europe? No? Is it Europoort then? No? Is it the Botlek port area? Is it Vlaardingen? No? Surely it’s the city of Rotterdam! Say what? Okay, final guess. Since you guys only talk and brag about Frisia, is it the town of Vreeswijk, perhaps?” Sorry to disappointContinue reading “The Batwing Doors of Northwest Europe”
Merciless medieval merchants
Earliest proof of Frisian merchants, or kāpmon in Old Frisian language, trading in slaves dates from the seventh century. Non other than Venerable Bede himself, Father of English history, who documented this criminal act. It was a merchant who was doing business on the London markets, and who also traded in slaves. In this postContinue reading “Merciless medieval merchants”
Porcupines bore U.S. bucks
On May 5th, 2018, it was exactly two centuries ago that Karl Marx was born. When in 1867 the good man published the first part of Das Kapital, Marx was actually 1,300 years too late to turn the tide. The ship had sailed. Ships of selfish and merciless Frisian merchants in pursuit of personal wealth,Continue reading “Porcupines bore U.S. bucks”
Haute couture from the salt marshes
It was not the city of Parisius. Nor that of Lundenwic. Believe or not, the early-medieval center for expensive cloth and chique clothing in the northwest of Europe was the Wadden-Sea coast. Here the highly sought-after pallia Fresonica ‘Frisian cloth’ was fabricated and distributed over the wider world. It possessed a quality good enough forContinue reading “Haute couture from the salt marshes”
In debt to the beastly Westfrisians
This post is about the harsh history of the ‘beastly’ Westfrisians, and especially those of the town of Medemblik. Medemblik, grande dame of region Westfriesland in province Noord Holland in the Netherlands. There are many legends about Medemblik. For example that it was the city where heathen king Radbod resided. But, above all it’s aContinue reading “In debt to the beastly Westfrisians”
“I did not have financial relations with that village”
On May 28, 2011 Bill Clinton held a speech in Achlum, province Friesland. The village has some 600 inhabitants. Looks like a small audience to me. What was he up to? We searched online for the keywords “Clinton” and “Achlum” and found many articles mentioning large sums of money… Indeed Achlum should be famous forContinue reading ““I did not have financial relations with that village””
Frisia Coast Trail 