Broek in Waterland 1

On Saturday 15 July 2017 I made another trip, this time through the province of North Holland. Very early I took the train to Amsterdam Central. There my journey through nine different places started with a bus ride to Broek in Waterland. When I got off the bus I walked through the small tunnel under the road only to discover that the post office was on the side I just stepped out of the bus. I walked back and a minute later I reached the small neighbourhood supermarket that held the post office. The datestamp was still in the box which meant I made the first impressions with this postmark.

Broek in Waterland is a town in the province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Waterland, and is situated about 8 km south of Purmerend and 8 km northeast of Amsterdam. In the 17th and 18th century, the town was a popular residence for merchants and seafarers from Amsterdam. Due to its monument status, much of its history has been preserved.

Many of the houses in the village date back to before 1850. Before 1940 there had been only limited housing development. This meant that many houses were divided to accommodate several families under the same roof. The church of Broek in Waterland was built before 1400 and was dedicated to Saint Nicolas. On 26 September 1573 the church was razed to the ground by Spaniards during the Eighty Years' War. In 1628 the inhabitants of Broek in Waterland started to rebuild the church on the foundations of the old building.

The pulpit was donated to the church in 1685 by a wealthy couple who were married there in 1641. It is made of ebony, rosewood and pallisander wood, which give it a dark colour and delicate texture. The church organ was built in 1832 by Wander Beekes. The church was extensively renovated in 1989. During this renovation, the original ceiling frescoes of cherubs and fruit garlands were rediscovered under old layers of paint.

Broek in Waterland was a popular vacation village for sea captains in the 1600s. The town has always been famous for its cleanliness. Many 17th and 18th century travel books of foreign travellers mentioned the cleanliness and tidiness of the village. The extreme cleanliness of Broek in Waterland led French visitors in the first half of the eighteenth century to dub this dairying village "le temple de la propreté hollandaise".

Broek in Waterland was a separate municipality until 1991, when it was merged with Waterland.

City/town:         Broek in Waterland

Municipality:     Waterland

Area:                10,70 km² (Waterland 115,66 km²)

Population:       2.728 (2018) (Waterland 17.306, 1 January 2019)

Website:           waterland.nl

Post office

't Winkeltje Wals-Schokker

Zuideinde 15

1151 CN  BROEK IN WATERLAND

Date sent: 15 July 2017

Date postmark: 15 July 2017

Date received: 18 July 2017

Number of days: 3

Envelope in collection: 234