Culture of The Netherlands - history, people, clothing, women, beliefs, food, customs, family, social
The Netherlands
Culture Name
Alternative Names
Netherlands culture, Hollandic culture. The Dutch use Nederlandse cultuur
and Hollandse cultuur to describe their culture.
Orientation
Identification.
The English word "Dutch" derives from the German
("German"). "Dutch" referred originally to
both Germany and the Netherlands but came to be restricted to the people
and language of the Netherlands when that country became independent in
the seventeenth century. "Holland" and "the
Netherlands" often are used as synonyms even though
"Holland" refers only to the provinces North and South
The Dutch distinguish between two major cultural subdivisions in their
nation. The most important distinction is between the Randstad (Rim City)
and non-Randstad cultures. Randstad culture is distinctly urban, located
in the provinces of North Holland, South Holland, and Utrecht. The
non-Randstad culture corresponds to the historical divide between the
predominantly Protestant north and the Catholic south, separated by the
Rhine River.
Significant local variations of Dutch culture include the Friesian culture
in the extreme north and the Brabant and Limburg cultures in the south.
The southern culture was subject to discriminatory policies until the
nineteenth century. The Friesians prize their language and descent from
the ancient Friesian people, while the Limburgers and Brabantines
emphasize their southern culture and Catholic heritage.
The Netherlands has for centuries provided a safe haven for ethnic
minorities fleeing from discrimination and persecution, with each minority
influencing Dutch culture in its own way. Many Jews from Spain and
Portugal and Protestant merchants from the Spanish-ruled southern
Netherlands sought refuge in the Dutch Republic in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. The twentieth century was characterized by the
influx of guest workers from the Mediterranean, migrants from the former
Dutch colonies, and refugees from war-torn countries.
The Netherlands does not have a strong uniform national culture. Most
Dutch people reject the notion and consider it to be tainted with an
unacceptable form of nationalism. Instead, they emphasize the
country's cultural diversity, tolerance of difference, and
receptiveness to foreign influences. Nevertheless, the Randstad culture
has been hegemonic in the Netherlands because of the concentration of
political, economic, and cultural power in that densely populated region.
Location and Geography.
The Netherlands is situated in northwestern Europe and borders on Germany
to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North sea to the west and
north. The name "Netherlands" means "Low
Lands" in reference to the nation's topography as an
alluvial plain. Differences in altitude are minimal. Almost one-quarter of
the landmass is below sea level, protected from the encroaching sea by
dikes and dunes. The Netherlands is also a relatively small country
(13,297 square miles [34,425 square kilometers]) without surface water.
The Netherlands is divided in twelve provinces. Amsterdam (730,000
inhabitants) is the capital, but the government meets in The Hague
(440,000 inhabitants). Utrecht (235,000 inhabitants) is the transportation
hub, while the port city of Rotterdam (590,000 inhabitants) constitutes
the economic heartland. These four cities together with a string of
interconnected towns, form the Randstad, which has a population of
6,100,000.
The Netherlands
Demography.
The Netherlands had a population of 15,898,331 in 2000. It is the most
densely populated country in Europe (1,196 inhabitants per square mile
[462 per square kilometer] in 1996). There are 2,700,000 foreign
residents. The majority, approximately 780,000, originate from the
European Union, including 432,000 Germans. Other sizable groups are
Surinamese (297,000), Turks (300,000), Moroccans (252,000), and Antilleans
The average life expectancy in 1996 was 75.2 years for men and 80.7 years
for women, while the infant mortality rate was 5.1 per 1,000.
Linguistic Affiliation.
The official language of the Netherlands is Standard Dutch. This language
used in all official matters, by the media, and at schools and
universities. Dutch closely resembles German in both syntax and spelling.
It freely borrows words and technical terms from French and especially
Dutch is also the official language in Flandres, Belgium, where it is
called Flemish. Creole languages are increasingly replacing Dutch in
Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles as decolonization progresses.
Afrikaans, which is widely spoken in South Africa, is related to Dutch.
Friesian is the second official language of the N it is spoken
by a half million Friesians. In addition, there are about twenty-five
major dialects of Dutch.
Symbolism.
The display of the national flag and the singing of the national anthem
are important expressions of identity for a decreasing number of citizens.
The flag consists of three horizontal strips in the colors red, white, and
blue. The national anthem is the
. It was a rebel song during the independence war against Spain and was
adopted as the national anthem in 1932.
The complex relationship of the Dutch people with the sea is notable. The
sea has historically been both adversary and ally. The Dutch used to repel
foreign invaders by deliberately piercing river dikes. However, if not for
the extensive waterworks, 65 percent of the Netherlands would be flooded
permanently. The Dutch take great pride in their struggle against the sea
and reclaiming of land, which they view as mastery over nature.
Another source of national pride that sets aside regional and religious
differences is sports, especially soccer and speed skating. Whenever the
national team engages in international competitions, orangemania reigns.
People dress in orange (in reference to the name of the royal family),
raise national and orange flags, and decorate houses and streets as a
patriotic feeling of athletic superiority floods the nation. The
Elfstedentocht
("Eleven-City Tour") also raises national awareness. This
speed-skating event in Friesland occurs only occasionally as it takes a
prolonged period of frost to harden the 125 miles of lakes and canals that
connect the eleven Friesian towns.
The clearest example of national symbolism is the Dutch royal family. The
queen is regarded as the embodiment of the
(nation) and a symbol of hope and unity in times of war, adversity, and
natural disaster. Her popularity is manifested annually at the celebration
of Queensday on 30 April. The capital, Amsterdam, in particular, is
transformed into a gigantic flea market and open-air festival.
The 1940&#x occupation by Nazi Germany provides a continued
source of national identity. There are more than eight hundred World War
II monuments and memorials, and the Dutch people still use the war years
as the most important historical point of reference. The conflation of
Jewish and non-Jewish Dutch suffering is a striking characteristic of
national remembrance. The Dutch pride themselves on their fierce
resistance to the Nazi regime and their sheltering of 25,000 Jewish and
300,000 non-Jewish Dutch, but there also was extensive collaboration with
the Nazis. More than a hundred thousand Jews were deported to
concentration camps. Anne Frank symbolizes this deeply ambiguous
self-perception of the Dutch as victims, resisters, collaborators, and
passive bystanders. The Frank family was harbored for two years by Dutch
resisters before finally being betrayed by Dutch collaborators.
History and Ethnic Relations
Emergence of the Nation.
Dutch national identity emerged during the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, especially in the struggle for independence from Catholic Spain
during the Eighty Year War (1568&#x). The Dutch people received
independence from the House of Habsburg in the Treaty of Munster in 1648.
The Netherlands was temporarily unified with Belgium after the Congress of
Vienna. The Catholic Belgian elite sought its freedom from the Protestant
Dutch, and Belgium became independent in 1839.
National Identity.
Dutch national identity emerged from the struggle for political
sovereignty and religious freedom from the Catholic Habsburgs (Philip II).
The Dutch merchant class formed an alliance with the House of O the
merchants supplied the funds to wage war, while the House of Orange
provided political stability and military protection. Politics became more
dependent on consensus and negotiation than on authoritarian rule as power
rested in the hands of provincial viceroys.
The rapid expansion of the Dutch merchant fleet enabled the establishment
of a worldwide network of trade relations that created naval dominance and
increasing wealth for the merchant class. Handicapped by a small
population (670,000 inhabitants in 1622) and besieged by growing English
and French might, the Dutch Republic began to decline. Paradoxically, at
that time, the conspicuous consumption of the wealthy merchant class
A woman selling cheese at the market in Alkmaar. The Netherlands has
an advanced free market economy.
resulted in the so-called Golden Age. Stately canal houses were
constructed in Amsterdam, and great works of art were commissioned.
The Netherlands was one of the poorest nations in northwestern Europe by
1750. In 1813, at the end of the French occupation (1795&#x),
William I of the House of Orange-Nassau accepted the throne and became the
first Dutch king. The Dutch nobility never had a position of prominence
and influence in Dutch society. Only after constitutional reforms in 1851
did the nation begin its ascent to industrialization.
Rural–urban migration and especially the establishment of male
suffrage in 1887 undermined traditional ways of life in the eyes of some
politicians. The Anti-Revolutionary Party was founded in 1878 to reverse
that trend. That party advocated autonomy for different political and
religious communities. Its initiative resulted in the early twentieth
century in a process of vertical segmentation or pluralism known as
pillarization. Pillarization meant that each substantial subsection of the
Dutch population was able to participate in social institutions and
organizations (labor unions, schools, universities, political parties,
social clubs, churches, newspapers, and radio stations) that catered to
its specific needs. The four main pillars where Catholic, Protestant,
socialist, and conservative. Intensive cooperation and negotiation between
the pillars took place among national politicians. Secularization and
emancipation in the late 1960s resulted in depillarization because of a
greater vertical social mobility, growing intermarriage, and a declining
identification with each of the four pillars.
A strong self-conscious national identity did not develop in the
Netherlands because of these centrifugal historical processes, and this
denial of a national identity became a hallmark of Dutch culture.
Religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity are considered the essence of
Dutch culture. The persistence of sizable religious and regional
minorities and the decentralization of administrative power have allowed
cultural diversity to survive. In the absence of a countrywide shared
identity, the hegemonic Randstad culture has provided most of the markers
of national identity.
Ethnic Relations.
There is not much debate about racism or ethnic discrimination among the
Dutch people, probably because of their self-ascribed tolerance.
Nevertheless, the socioeconomic position of most non-European minorities
is far worse than that of the indigenous population. The status of
immigrant groups after World War II depended mainly on the moment and
condition of their entry. Dutch-speaking Indonesians arrived at the height
the postwar economic upswing after Indonesia's independence in
1950. The Indonesians had ample time to secure a stable position in Dutch
society. By contrast, the Mediterranean guest workers who arrived in the
late 1960s and early 1970s regarded themselves and were viewed by the
Dutch authorities as temporary residents and therefore did not familiarize
themselves with Dutch culture. Guest workers were recruited principally
from Spain and Italy and later from Turkey and Morocco. Those workers
performed unskilled labor in the industry and service sectors. Many
Dutch-speaking Surinamese arrived after Suriname became independent in
1975. Those immigrants and the poorly educated Turkish and Moroccan labor
migrants were among the first to suffer from the economic decline of the
1970s. The position of the Surinamese improved during the 1980s and 1990s,
but the Turks and Moroccans remained the most disadvantaged ethnic groups
in Dutch society. Local residents of the Netherlands Antilles have been
migrating to the Netherlands since the mid-1970s in search of work and
schooling. The 1990s was marked by the immigration of substantial groups
of refugees from west Africa, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and the
Urbanism,Architecture, and the Use of Space
Dutch cities are extremely compact and densely populated. Government
intervention ensures that intercity areas are well kept and that ethnic
ghettos and industrial wastelands do not emerge. The major cities are
constantly subject to urban renewal projects. Much attention is given to
fostering a sense of community by creating public places, such as parks
and squares with benches and playgrounds. The country has an intricate
network of railroads and an even denser web of bicycle paths.
Early Dutch architecture was influenced by a Calvinist ethos of uniformity
and sobriety. This distinct style emerged after the Netherlands separated
from Spain in 1581. Unlike their contemporaries in France and Great
Britain, wealthy Dutch merchants built fairly modest yet stately canal
houses in Amsterdam. Dutch cities lack the grandeur and flamboyance of
Paris and London because the government meets in inconspicuous buildings.
Contemporary Dutch architecture is more cosmopolitan. The expressionist
Amsterdam School and the cubist Stijl architects of the 1920s were
inspired by international art movements. Modernism became the principal
style of the post-World War II housing boom. The city center of Rotterdam
is a typical example. Largely destroyed in World War II, the heart of this
port city was rebuilt in an American style with steel and glass
skyscrapers. At the end of the twentieth century, the Randstad cities
began developing postmodern suburban business parks and indoor shopping
The Dutch have a desire for spatial organization that is informed by
Calvinist assumptions about order as a synonym for cleanliness and
sinlessness. The Calvinist sense of space can be seen clearly from the
air. The land is carefully divided in Mondrian-like squares and
rectangles. In part, this is related to surface water management with its
need for canals and dikes, but it also reflects the Dutch desire for order
and uniformity. This can be seen most clearly in the undistinguished
suburban housing development projects.
Dutch houses are relatively small and have prominent front doors and large
windows. Homes are stacked with formidable amounts of furniture, indoor
plants, and flowers. Dutch interiors are a reflection of the outside
world, congested but orderly and clean.
Food and Economy
Food in Daily Life.
The Netherlands does not have a distinct culinary culture because of its
Protestant ethnic and the absence of a strong culinary tradition at the
court due to an emphasis on Calvinist soberness. Food is seen as a
necessary part of life, with no need for luxury. Traditional foods include
pea soup, kale stew, hotchpotch (a thick stew), white asparagus, French
fries with mayonnaise, meat croquets, and raw herring. In the morning, the
Dutch consume several sandwiches with cheese, peanut butter, or chocolate
sprinkles. Lunch consists of sandwiches, often with cold cuts and perhaps
a small salad on the side. Dinner, which generally is served between five
, is a twoor three-course meal that often begins with soup. The main dish
usually contains a mixture of potatoes with vegetables and meat, fish, or
poultry and is followed by dessert. Chinese–Indonesian, Surinamese,
and Italian food have become part of the Dutch diet.
Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions.
The Dutch hardly ever invite people with whom they are not closely
acquainted for dinner. Instead, coffee has a strong social significance.
Neighbors often invite each other over for a cup of coffee with the
invariable one cookie, and the morning coffee break at work is a sacred
institution. Coffee-drinking
A drawbridge over a canal in Haarlem. Dutch cities are compact and
densely populated.
rituals reveal the core meaning of the crucial Dutch word
gezelligheid
("cozy," "sociable," or
"pleasant").
Basic Economy.
The Netherlands has an advanced free market economy. The Dutch pride
themselves on having an economy that performs smoothly, known as the
polder model, which hinges on periodic negotiations among labor unions,
employers' associations, and the government to control wage scales
and taxes. The labor force consisted of 7,097,000 persons in 1999; the
unemployed numbered 292,000. The annual gross national product (GNP)
amounted to 323 billion euros ($373 billion) in 1997. Imports totaled
about 55 percent of GNP; and exports totaled 61 percent. The average
income after taxes is 20,000 euros ($23,160). The Netherlands never had a
major wave of industrialization but remained firmly oriented toward
agriculture, trade, and service industries. Two percent of the Dutch
population are employed in the highly mechanized agricultural sector
(which includes the fishing industry), 24 percent are employed in the
industrial sector, and 74 percent work in service industries.
Dutch exports can be divided into five main categories: agricultural
products, 15 natural or enriched fuels, 6 chemical
products, 17 industrial products, 12 and machinery, 24
percent. Germany is the principal trading partner. Two-thirds of Dutch
exports go to five nations: Germany, Belgium, France, the United States,
and the United Kingdom. Those five trading partners account for 61 percent
of Dutch imports.
Social Stratification
Classes and Castes.
Differences in wealth are relatively small in comparison to many other
countries because of progressive taxation and the redistribution of fiscal
funds to the unemployed and occupationally inactive. This equality of
income is clearly shown when Dutch households are subdivided into four
separate income categories. The lowest quartile has an average income of
8,730 euros ($10,105) after taxes, whereas the highest quartile has an
average income of 38,365 euros ($44,420). An open discussion of class,
income, and status differences is more or less taboo in a society that
strongly emphasizes equality. Although Dutch society in general is firmly
middle class, an estimated 5 to 10 percent of the population lives at a
subsistence level. This income polarization and the ensuing social
segmentation began in the 1980s. Low-skilled workers, the unemployed, the
disabled, the aged, and single-parent households have been
Two windmills in the Netherlands.
hit hardest. Low-income households are concentrated in the Randstad
cities and the two most northern provinces, Friesland and Groningen.
Symbols of Social Stratification.
Class differences entail few visible signs of cultural differentiation,
but those minor differences have a great symbolic value in creating social
distinction. The most obvious differences can be observed in housing,
consumption patterns, and community participation. Lower-class homes are
small and tend to hold a large amount of furniture and decorative
articles. Higher-class homes are more spacious and tend to hold less and
often more sober furniture. The social participation of Dutch people does
not depend entirely on class background, but higher-income households tend
to have less involvement in community life than do low-income households.
Lower class people are in general more rooted in community life and less
restrained in contacts with neighbors and relatives.
Differences in clothing are relatively slight but important class markers.
The Dutch dress with little eye for flamboyance. Even corporate dress
codes are informal. Only the very rich and young urban professionals have
a dress style that adheres to international clothing standards.
Speech patterns also may vary with class. Lower class people tend to speak
in a local dialect, while the middle and upper classes speak Standard
Political Life
Government.
The Netherlands is a unitary state governed by a central body. The
political system is a parliamentary democracy as well as a constitutional
monarchy. The queen has little her role is largely
symbolic. Political power lies in the hands of a cabinet of ministers
headed by a prime minister. The cabinet is accountable to the parliament (
Staten-Generaal
), whose members are elected at four-year intervals. The Dutch Parliament
consists of the First Chamber and the Second Chamber, which together
constitute the legislative body. The Second Chamber initiates new
legislation. Its members are directly elected by the people, who have had
universal suffrage since 1919. The members of the Second Chamber are
elected by proportional representation, which leads to a great number of
political parties that together compete for 150 seats. The First Chamber
either ratifies or rejects the new legislation proposed by the Second
Chamber. Its members are elected by the members of the
Provinciale Staten
. Each of the twelve provinces has a
local governing board (
Provinciale Staten
) whose chair is the commissioner to the queen, who is appointed by the
government for a life term. Its members are elected by the inhabitants of
the province. Each municipality has an elected council presided over by
the mayor and elected aldermen. Commissioners and mayors are handpicked by
the government for life terms.
Leadership and Political Officials.
The main political parties are the PvdA (social democrats), VVD
(conservatives), and CDA (Christian democrats). These parties are
supplemented by a large number of smaller parties, ranging from socialist
and nationalist to religious and green. Dutch cabinets are invariably
coalitions of the major political parties. Open debate and negotiation
toward consensus are part of Dutch political culture.
Most top level government positions are occupied by former members of the
Second Chamber who have moved up in the party ranks. Most public
functionaries at the ministries are career bureaucrats. Interactions
between politicians and ordinary citizens are fairly limited, especially
on the provincial and national levels. Only industrial associations,
unions, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and political lobbies
interact directly on political matters. These groups have a strong impact
on political decision making.
Social Problems and Control.
Traffic violations are the most common legal infraction. Violent crimes
are low compared to other European countries and the United S 273
murders were committed in 1996, amounting to 1.8 murders per 100,000
inhabitants. Dutch citizens worry mostly about muggings and burglaries.
People hardly ever take the law into their own hands. There are very few
neighborhood watches and no armed citizens' militias. The
Netherlands has very strict gun control. Possession of small quantities of
soft drugs (marijuana and hashish) is not prosecuted. The sale of soft
drugs in so-called coffeeshops is not legal but is tolerated. The
Netherlands has become a magnet for drug tourists because of its liberal
stance toward drugs and its position as a major transport hub within
Europe. The Netherlands has a great tolerance of prostitution. Randstad
cities have red light districts in which women display themselves behind
windows to potential customers.
Military Activity.
The Dutch army was professionalized during the 1990s, when conscription
was formally abolished. The defense budget declined substantially between
1989 and 1998 because of the end of the Cold War. In the absence of armed
conflicts, the Dutch armed forces become only active during national
disasters such as major floods and forest fires and in international
peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations or NATO.
Even though the Dutch hold the military in low esteem, their attitude
toward peacekeeping missions is very positive.
Social Welfare and Change Programs
The modern Dutch welfare state, with its elaborate system of laws and
regulations, came into existence after World War II. The current array of
welfare laws is impossible to summarize, but the main assumption is that
people are entitled to a sufficient income to satisfy their basic needs
and should not be at the mercy of charity.
The welfare system was created to provide for the aged and as a temporary
safety net for unemployed breadwinners. However, in the present
post-industrial economic system, this system has become a permanent source
of income for a large and stable group, and this has created increasing
dependency on the state. High economic growth at the turn of the twentieth
century, tax incentives, and government reeducation programs had rapidly
reduced long-term unemployment to record lows. Unemployment benefits are
sufficient to maintain the recipients at a minimum standard of living.
Nongovernmental Organizations and Other Associations
Nongovernmental organizations in the Netherlands consist mostly of charity
funds and environmental and human rights organizations. Important
organizations include Amnesty International, Greenpeace, the World
Wildlife Fund, and
Natuurmonumenten
(an organization for the protection of the Dutch natural environment),
which have a large middle and upper class following. They have a
considerable impact on national politics. The Dutch contribute large sums
to international disaster aid and consider themselves morally obliged to
Gender Roles and Statuses
Division of Labor by Gender.
Women constitute only 38 percent of the labor force and often work
part-time. This low rate of participation has ideological and historical
reasons. There is a prevailing belief that maternity care has great
developmental benefits for children. Furthermore, the Dutch involvement in
both world wars contributed to the
A worker cultivates the perfect rows of tulips growing in the
Bollenstreek bulb-region of the Netherlands.
late entry of women in the labor force. Unlike in Great Britain and
Germany, where many men fought in the war, the Dutch did not enter World
War I. The German occupation during World War II kept the male labor force
largely intact in spite of the hundreds of thousands of forced laborers
who were deported to Nazi Germany, and women thus were not needed to take
the place of male workers. Dutch women only slowly started entering the
labor force after the pillarization of society crumbled in the late 1960s.
They still lag behind men in terms of income and job status. The average
annual income of men was 26,410 euros ($30,580) before taxes in 1997
versus only 13,455 euros ($15,580) for women. Women are found mostly in
low-paying service jobs such as nursing and cleaning.
The Relative Status of Women and Men.
Although women and men are equal before the law and the trend toward
gender equality has been noticeable, women and men still occupy distinct
functions in Dutch society. The differences between men and women are
especially noticeable within the nuclear family, where the woman continues
to perform the role of homemaker, while the man is seen as the breadwinner
or provider. This is especially true among working-class families. Women
are underrepresented in leadership positions in politics and the economy.
Marriage,Family, and Kinship
Dutch people are free to choose their spouses. The common basis for
marriage is most often love. This does not mean that people marry
independently of the constraints of class, ethnicity, and religion. The
choice of a partner is often class-based. Monogamy is the only marriage
form allowed. Many Dutch couples live in a consensual arrangement.
Same-sex couples can marry and have the same rights as heterosexual
The marriage ceremony may consist of two separate formal events: the
municipal registration and a religious ceremony, with the latter being
optional. The couple holds a wedding reception where friends and relatives
gather to celebrate the nuptial engagement. Almost 45 percent of the Dutch
p about eighty thousand marriages are registered each
year, while on average thirty thousand couples file for divorce.
Domestic Unit.
The nuclear family is the most common household unit, although it is
increasingly losing ground to single-parent families, couples without
children, and single-person households. The principal authority in the
household is generally the man, although there is a trend toward more
equality of marriage partners. Extended family households are rare. Dutch
couples have a neolocal postmarital residence pattern, as couples are free
to choose where they live.
Kin Groups.
The Dutch make a distinction between relatives by marriage and relatives
by blood. Consanguineal relatives are considered more important than are
affinal relatives. Solidarity and support (financial and emotional) are
usually directed at the closest kin (parents, children, and siblings).
This is also illustrated by prevailing inheritance patterns.
Disinheritance is not permitted by law. Every child receives an equal
Socialization
Infant Care.
The average nuclear family is relatively small, with only one or two
children. Toddlers receive much parental attention. Many children are
cared for primarily by their parents in the parental home. Infants usually
are put in playpens, where parents can leave them without restraining
their own movement around the house. Since in many families both parents
are employed, children
aged 6 weeks and up are often placed in a nursery when their parents are
at work. Children often enter play groups at age 2 and at age 4 are
officially required to attend primary school.
Child Rearing and Education.
Dutch childrearing practices are permissive. Children are encouraged to
discover their surroundings individually or with other children. Corporal
punishment is disapproved of by most parents. Instead, parents reprimand
misbehaving children verbally. Peer groups are important among Dutch
adolescents. Teenagers have developed a wide array of subcultures in which
to explore their identity such as punks, head-bangers, and in particular
(Dutch slang for "mates") whose working-class members shave
their heads, wear expensive training suits, and congregate at rave
Higher Education.
Dutch children are praised for successful performance at school. It is
firmly believed that a good education and fluency in English are a sure
road to success. Many children thus seek additional education after
finishing high school. Approximately 70 percent of the adult population
receives formal education after high school, and 20 percent of the adult
population has received higher vocational training (HBO) or attended a
university.
Most traits of Dutch etiquette resemble those of the rest of the Western
world, but there are several distinguishing national codes of behavior.
The Dutch either shake hands when they meet and depart or, in the case of
women and closely acquainted men and women, kiss each other three times on
the cheek.
The Dutch have a strong desire to order their time in agendas and on
calendars. Dutch children are given their first agenda at primary school
to write down scheduled lessons and homework. A full agenda signifies a
full life. The Dutch are very punctual, and showing up even five minutes
late is considered inappropriate. As a result, everything has to be done
at fixed times: There is a time to work, a time to clean the house, a time
to drink coffee, and a time to visit friends.
The Dutch do not line up and show almost no consideration in public for a
person's status, gender, or age. The use of the formal
"you" (
) to address a person is becoming less common, whereas the growing
importance of the informal "you" (
)is meant to illustrate a commitment to equality.
Brick row houses in Haarlem have prominent front doors and large
Religious Beliefs.
The largest religious congregation in the Netherlands is Catholic (30
percent of the population), followed by Reformed Protestant (14 percent),
Dutch Reformed (7 percent) and Muslim (4 percent). More striking, however,
is the fact that 40 percent of the population are not religious or
connected to a denomination. The extremely rapid secularization of the
Netherlands after the 1960s has meant that religion plays a decreasing
role in ordering people's social and cultural lives, with the
notable exception of the small rural communities in the Dutch Bible Belt,
which runs along the towns Zierikzee, Dordrecht, Utrecht, Zwolle, and
Assen. Among the 60 percent who profess to being religious, an
ever-increasing group either does not actively participate in religious
ceremonies or is involved in New Age religions.
Religious Practitioners.
Religious practitioners (priests, ministers, and imams) belong to the
major religions in the Netherlands. The Roman Catholic ecclesiastical
authority is represented by bishops who try to influence national debates
about the family, social welfare, abortion, and euthanasia.
Rituals and Holy Places.
The Catholic south of the Netherlands is rich in annual religious
processions, some of which date back to the Middle Ages, such as the blood
processions in Boxtel and Boxmeer, both in the province of North-Brabant.
Shrines include those of Saint Gerardus in Wittem and Onze Lieve
Vrouwekerk in Masatricht.
Death and the Afterlife.
Beliefs about death and the afterlife correspond to the doctrines of the
major religions. The deceased is either buried at a cemetery or cremated
at a cremation center. All burials and cremations are arranged by
professional undertakers.
Medicine and Health Care
Health care is almost completely the responsibility of the state. The
Dutch institutionalized, although they did not socialize, health care
during the twentieth century to a much larger extent than did many other
Western nations. Even care for the aged and the disabled takes place
primarily in an institutionalized setting. Secularization and increasing
wealth have compelled the government to take over care for the aged
because traditional institutions such as church, community, and family are
no longer able or willing to perform this task adequately. Almost everyone
in the Netherlands carries medical insurance. The unemployed and
low-income families are protected by public health insurance, while
higher-income families have private insurance.
Secular Celebrations
Carnival celebrations the weekend before Ash Wednesday have become secular
festivities that are spreading rapidly from the Catholic south to the
Protestant north. The symbolic celebration of the Queen's birthday
(Queen's Day) takes place on 30 April. Although Queen Beatrix was
born on 31 January, the festivities are held on the former Queen
Juliana's birthday. Remembrance of Dutch casualties in World War II
is celebrated on Memorial Day, 4 May. The nation observes a minute of
silence at eight
to commemorate the dead. Liberation Day, the celebration of the end of
the German occupation in 1945, occurs on 5 May. Most major cities stage
elaborate festivities and music festivals. Family members and friends
exchange gifts on the eve of Saint Nicolas Day (5 December), while
children receive gifts on his birthday (6 December). On New Year's
Eve, the Dutch reflect on the year that has passed and gather with friends
rather than family members. The new year is welcomed with champaign and
fireworks, and resolutions are made.
The Arts and Humanities
Support for the Arts.
Graduates of art academies receive a four-year stipend of about 455 euros
($525) a month to start a professional art career. In addition, several
public and private foundations provide modest funding for artists. An
important source of support are the artworks for public places
commissioned by national, provincial, and local governments.
Literature.
Dutch oral literature dates back to at least 500
The earliest Dutch written literature goes back to the mid-1200s with the
songs of the troubadour Heynric van Veldeken. The works on world history
and the lives of saints written in verse by Jacob van Maerlant
(1230&#x) mark the beginning of a truly national literature.
Dutch literature bloomed during the Renaissance with playwrights such as
Hooft, Cats, Huygens, Bredero, and Joost van den Vondel
(1587&#x).
Dutch literature entered a period of relative decline after the
seventeenth century, only to arise to world stature in the mid-nineteenth
century with the publication of
Max Havelaar
by Multatuli (a pseudonym for Eduard Douwes Dekker), which describes the
colonial exploitation of the Netherlands Indies. The Movement of the
Eighties (1880&#x), led by the poets Kloos and Gorter, marked a
new era in Dutch literature. The novels of Louis Couperus were the
fin-de-sicle apotheosis of the national literature.
The breadth of twentieth-century Dutch Slauerhoff,
Roland Holst, Bordewijk, and Vestdijk are the most important authors of
the inter-war period. The principal post-World War II poets and writers
are Lucebert, Kouwenaar, Vroman, Haasse, Mulisch, Hermans, Reve, Wolkers,
Nooteboom, and Van der Heijden.
Graphic Arts.
Contemporary Dutch graphic arts have been dominated by the legacy of the
seventeenth century with its emphasis on painting, drawing, and etching.
The masterpieces of Dutch painting are displayed at the Rijksmuseum
(Rembrandt and Vermeer), the Van Gogh Museum, and the Stedelijk Museum
(contemporary art) in Amsterdam. In addition, there are important
collections at the Kröller-Muller Museum (impressionism,
expressionism) in Otterloo and the Haags Gemeentemuseum (Mondrian) and the
Mauritshuis (Rembrandt and Vermeer) in the Hague. Museums are visited
principally by the middle and upper
classes, with the exception of major retrospectives of popular painters
such as Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh, which attract a wide audience.
Performance Arts.
Classical music (notably the Concertgebouw Orchestra) and ballet (the
National Ballet and the Netherlands Dance Theater) are the principal
performance arts with international appeal. Cabaret has a long-standing
national tradition and is still popular. The Early Music Festival of
Utrecht is known for its concerts featuring medieval and Renaissance
music. The North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague is world-renowned. The
Pinkpop and Low Lands festivals are two major events for popular music.
The Holland Festival in Amsterdam is the most important annual
presentation of the new programming season of contemporary Dutch
performance arts. The performance arts attract mainly the middle and upper
The State of the Physical and Social Sciences
Most scientific research in the Netherlands is conducted at universities
and corporate research laboratories. There are thirteen universities.
Twenty-four lower, middle, and higher polytechnic schools train students
exclusively in applied work. The Netherlands Organization for Scientific
Research (NWO) is the principal funding agency for the physical and social
sciences. This foundation is under the authority of Ministry of Education,
Culture and Science (OC&W) and finances seven areas of science
(chemical sciences, earth and biological sciences, humanities, medical
sciences, physical sciences, social and behavioral sciences, and technical
sciences). The 1998 budget totaled 300 million euros ($345 million), of
which 36 percent was allocated to the physical sciences and about 5.5
percent to the social and behavioral sciences. This amount is dwarfed by
the 3.3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) spent in 1996 on research and
development in corporate laboratories.
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Informalisering,
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Dutch newspapers:
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