For many turbulent centuries, the town of Stavoren was a tightrope walker before it finally settled as a small harbour at the Lake IJsselmeer. Living in retirement from well-to-do owners of white yachts, sailing boats, and other pleasure vessels. Now it looks back on when Saint Odulf arrived in the ninth century to convert theContinue reading “Stavoren. Balancing on a Slack Rope of Religion, Trade, Land, Water, Holland, and Frisia”
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A Frisian Warlord Who Ruled in Brittany, Until His Wife Cheated on Him
Where the English Channel meets the Celtic Sea, the ships of the Frisian brothers Corsold and Coarchion are said to have sailed, raided, and held sway in the early sixth century. For a time, they may even have established a short-lived kingdom in Brittany. Breton legend holds that the village of Kersaout — modern-day CorseulContinue reading “A Frisian Warlord Who Ruled in Brittany, Until His Wife Cheated on Him “
Late Little Prayers at the Lorelei Rock. Reckless Rhine Skippers in Distress
On the west bank of the mighty River Rhine, halfway between the cities of Koblenz and Mainz, lies the town of Sankt Goar. Named after Saint Goar of Aquitaine, a hermit who retreated here in the sixth century. Diagonally across the river stands the famous and mystical Lorelei Rock: steep and over 130 meters high.Continue reading “Late Little Prayers at the Lorelei Rock. Reckless Rhine Skippers in Distress”
To the End Where It All Began: the Ribbon-Like Town of Ribe
Let’s go to the omega. To the end of the Frisia Coast Trail. To Ribe in southern Jutland, Denmark. The oldest town in Scandinavia. A town located on the banks of the Ribe Å. A modest river that flows out into the Wadden Sea stoically slow, opposite the islands of Fanø and Mandø. Ribe startedContinue reading “To the End Where It All Began: the Ribbon-Like Town of Ribe”
Happy Hunting Grounds in the Arctic. The Way the Whale’s Doom Was Sealed
If you want to track down who killed the whale, the Frisia Coast Trail region is the place to start. Stop people on the streets along this southern North Sea littoral and ask whether they know anything, and you will likely hear: “I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing.” Politicians and officials —Continue reading “Happy Hunting Grounds in the Arctic. The Way the Whale’s Doom Was Sealed”
History Is Written by the Victors — A Story of the Credits
New York City, the Capital of the World. They call it a lot of things: Gotham, the Big Apple, the Empire City, Modern Gomorrah, even Baghdad-on-the-Subway. And of course, Times Square proudly calls itself the Center of the Universe — although the true center of the world is the village of Aegum. And in theContinue reading “History Is Written by the Victors — A Story of the Credits”
A Theel-Acht. What a Great Idea!
By the middle of the ninth century, the Vikings had carved out a more or less permanent foothold in Frisia, in the pagus ‘territory’ of Nordendi, also known as Norditi. But by the year 884, the Frisians had had enough. They forged swords and axes, raised an army, and drove the Norsemen out once andContinue reading “A Theel-Acht. What a Great Idea!”
Haute Couture From the Salt Marshes
It was not the city of Parisius (‘Paris’). Nor that of Londinium (‘London’). Believe it or not, the early-medieval center for expensive cloth and chic clothing in the northwest of Europe was the muddy Wadden Sea coast. Here the highly sought-after pallia Fresonica (‘Frisian cloth’) was fabricated and distributed to the wider world. It possessedContinue reading “Haute Couture From the Salt Marshes”
Frisia Coast Trail 