Greatest Dutch contributions to the world ?

What is/are the Netherlands' greatest contribution(s) to the world?

  • The microscope and the telescope

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • The mercury thermometer

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • The pendulum clock

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The colony of New Amsterdam (which later became New York)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Paintings (Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh, Mondriaan...)

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • Gouda cheese

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Heineken

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Liberal laws (about cannabis, abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia...)

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Electronic media (audio tape, video tape, CD, CD-ROM)

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • Other (please specify)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2
Dutch Baka said:
i hear a lot of people saying Heineken sucks, but it is still the second biggest brewery in the world * as far as i know, if i am wrong tell me*

so it means, it doesnt sucks hahaha


Ever seen the film 'Blue Velvet'? Dennis Hopper's character certainly doesn't like Heineken.
Whenever anyone orders one he shouts; ''Heineken, F**k that sh*t !'', whilst extolling the virtues of American beer.

I'm no beer expert, but I had some great ones in Berlin, and Dutch beer is OK with me. And 'Dutch cigarettes'!!!
 
Tsuyoiko said:
There was a trend to wear stuff on your shoes. Those bottle tops have two bits of metal that fit perfectly into your shoelace eyelets. Another thing we wore was those reflector things people used to attach to the spokes on their bikes. What the heck are they called? One boy replaced the reflectors with little mirrors so that he could see up girls skirts. :souka:

HAHAHAHAHA....very creative!! This must have been a sight! You should have contacted the beer company because you were doing free advertising!!! :D :D I am sorry that the trend didn't pass by my circle of friends at that time.....
 
Dutch cigarettes? uuuuh? what brand is that? mm maybe you can buy it at Apie hein... eigen merk?
 
I think that painters like Rembrandt, Vermeer and several others are the greatest Dutch contribution to the world.
Paulus Potter, 17th century, was in my eyes, also a very good Dutch landscape painter.
 
i hear a lot of people saying Heineken sucks, but it is still the second biggest brewery in the world * as far as i know, if i am wrong tell me*
so it means, it doesnt sucks hahaha

It's ok for a lager, I don't much care for pale lagers. I prefer ales and stouts to lagers. I absolutely despise Hefeweizen or any sort of wheat beer.
 
I absolutely despise Hefeweizen or any sort of wheat beer.

I absolutely love hefeweizen bier (y)


And on the Dutch, well its not in the list but I think their discovery of the West and North coasts of Australia (New Holland) by Europeans should rank up there.
 
Their cannabis legislation, nothing is of more importance.

I would personally rate their beautiful, tall women as more important. Each to his own, I suppose...
 
The beer brand of Heineken is chemical waste.
Gouda Cheese is quite common, nothing special.
There is much better cheese in other European countries, but Gouda works to catch mice.
The Colony of New Amsterdam was a failure from the beginning, they hardly survived, and there was nothing to be proud of.
And liberal laws? Those laws aren't liberal at all.
If you would study them, you would see they are cynical, and sometimes rather stupid.

To give an example..You can buy some mariuhana (wiet) in a Coffeeshop.
Maybe they don't even sell coffee in that Coffeeshop.
But where do those shops get their stuff from?
It's illegal to grow wiet. And having more than for personal use is illegal too!
In the newspaper this morning was written the police shut down 13 weed greenhouses in 1 day. Quite liberal, isn't it?
 
I want to go one by one...

Liberal laws (about cannabis, abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia...)

Well... I don't feel that any of those laws is relevant to me personally, given my tastes.... what they have in common, and I praise, is being precisely "liberal".

And for that I thank De Nederlanden.

And in that "liberal" spirit, I also cannot deny that I liked my visit to the RLD. :giggle:

I hope that I will be able to visit Amsterdam once more and to appreciate the other side, the more cultural aspects of the city.

One thing, for example is that unique urbanism, that you could appreciate seeing the center of Amsterdam (Grachtengordel) from above...

amsterdam_airphoto.jpg


... and of course, the buildings themselves, and the perspectives...

880474_Amsterdam.jpg



AmsterdamCanals.jpg



Paintings (Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh, Mondriaan...)
Microscope and telescope = (Christiaan Huygens , Leeuwenhoek)
Pendulum clock
Mercury thermometer

The Netherlads had two "golden ages", and for me the more interesting is the first (17th Century) in which it was a kind of beacon of free thinking and science in a time when most of Europa was particulary intolerant and full with religious fanaticism. And so the art and science of that time flourished there.

I hope I could return there one day and visit many historical sites.

Regards.
 
Well, Amsterdam is only a city in The Netherlands.

Free thinking? Forget it! Only protestants were free to say and print whatever they liked.
And for the rest.. Many people that fled their home country to be free in The Netherlands had money, knowledge and were welcomed to build up the economy in the poor region of Holland. And Holland is only a small part of The Netherlands.

The part of The Netherlands that was relatively save from attacks by our neighbours the English, French, Spanish and Germans. The Holland Dutch had a loud mouth from behind the water that surrounded them.
Leaving the rest of The Netherlands free for looters, ramsacking soldiers and other scum.
 
Well, Amsterdam is only a city in The Netherlands.

Free thinking? Forget it! Only protestants were free to say and print whatever they liked.
And for the rest.. Many people that fled their home country to be free in The Netherlands had money, knowledge and were welcomed to build up the economy in the poor region of Holland. And Holland is only a small part of The Netherlands.

The part of The Netherlands that was relatively save from attacks by our neighbours the English, French, Spanish and Germans. The Holland Dutch had a loud mouth from behind the water that surrounded them.
Leaving the rest of The Netherlands free for looters, ramsacking soldiers and other scum.


Please oblige me - are you denigating the efforts of the Dutch that fought off the the strongest power of its day?

We all know that the bulk of the country suffered greatly. Are you suggesting that they should have commited themselves out in the open against the Spanish? It would have been a slaughter. Don't forget that they at least won independence for a good portion of the country.
 
I find this History fascinanting....

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Historical Context

A series of complex events which historians call the Revolt of the Netherlands (1566-1648) allowed Amsterdam to emerge as the dominant city in the Low Countries. The seven northern provinces of the Netherlands (17 provinces in all) rebelled against Spanish rule and won political independence in 1609. In the war with Spain, the Spanish armies commanded by the Duke of Alva destroyed Amsterdam's economic rivals in the south, including Antwerp. Accordingly, Amsterdam's freedom and her large population made her the de facto capital of Holland.
In addition to possessing political independence, Amsterdam was a major hub of European commerce after 1609. One reason was the decline of Antwerp, which was during the sixteenth century a center of banking and international commerce. The decline began in 1576, when the city was sacked by Spanish troops and some 6,000 citizens killed. To make matters worse, Antwerp was occupied in 1585 following a fourteen month siege, which had closed her ports and stopped trade.
Economic Basis for Amsterdam's Prosperity
Amsterdam, first of all, welcome refugees, including a significant number who had fled Antwerp, bring capital and commercial skills with them. Secondly, merchants in Amsterdam were eager to seize opportunities to make money. These included purchasing grain and other foodstuffs in Poland and eastern Europe and selling food to those experiencing shortages. The Dutch developed industries to supply export goods to colonies, a practice not followed by the Spanish and Portuguese, who then had to purchases such goods as textiles, metalwork products, armaments, furniture, rope, tar, timber, and other items. Third, they were willing to take risks and plunder Spanish and Portuguese treasure fleets. They also built ships to sell or lease and outfitted ships purchased elsewhere.

Amsterdam's Advantages.

Amsterdam had a superb merchant marine and the means to protect its ships. About 1650, the Dutch owned 50% of the merchant ships in Europe. Dutch merchants were prepared to trade in virtually any commodity in world commerce. Accordingly, Amsterdam prices became a world-wide reference guide. Further, the Dutch provided a complete assortment of commercial services, ranging from credit to insurance to brokering to law. The Dutch were hard working and efficient. Ships that berthed in Amsterdam harbor could unloaded and reloaded within a few days. In Amsterdam, a merchant could purchase just about anything, including grain, naval supplies, armaments, and fish. Moreover, the Dutch controlled metal imports from Sweden, wool from Spanish sheep, salt from Denmark, and unfinished woolen clothing from England. Many of these imports were raw materials or semi-finished goods. They were then finished in Amsterdam and exported at a considerable profit.

Amsterdam's Overseas Trading Companies

The ambition of Dutch merchants was to break the monopoly held by Spain and Portugal over the spice trade. To this end, the Dutch founded the Company of Far Lands, and the Dutch managed to penetrate the East Indes and establish trading relationships. As the trade thrived, the Dutch found they were competing against each other, thus harming themselves. To put an end to this situation, the Dutch founded the United Netherlands Chartered East India Company in 1602; its initial capital was 6.5 million florins, 50% of which came from Amsterdam. This company claimed a monopoly over trade from the Cape of Good Hope to the Straits of Magellan. It could make war and peace, build fortresses, seize foreign vessels, and coin money. Amsterdam merchants dominated the Company. An annual fleet was sent out, and it seized areas in which the Dutch wished to trade, including Cape Town, parts of India, Batavia on Java, the Moluccas, and Nagasaki, Japan. In 1621, the Dutch West India Company was founded to monopolize trade with the New World. Its captured the entire Spanish treasure fleet in Cuba in 1628. They also tried but failed to colonize New York. The result of the activities of the East and West India Companies was a vast increase in the quantity as well as the quality of the goods available. The character of the Dutch merchants who thrived in this competitive atmosphere was calculating, greedy, tight-fisted, and frugal; they were ready to forego immediate pleasures for long-term gain, and they often ignored religion and patriotism when they interfered with economic activity. According to the contemporary poet, Joost van der Vondel: "For love of gain the wide world's harbors we explore."

http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/Amsterdam_l.html
 
Please oblige me - are you denigating the efforts of the Dutch that fought off the the strongest power of its day?

We all know that the bulk of the country suffered greatly. Are you suggesting that they should have commited themselves out in the open against the Spanish? It would have been a slaughter. Don't forget that they at least won independence for a good portion of the country.

All propaganda. There are good books about it. The Spanish had a hard time to even send an army into The Netherlands.
The Spanish got their soldiers from all over Europe. By the time they were approaching, the Holland Dutch had time and money enough to safe their own skin by hiring mostly German troops.

And the Hollanders even let the city of Antwerp be burnt and slaughtered by the Spanish troops. Why? Antwerp was the main rival harbor of Amsterdam.

The Holland Dutch let the Spanish destroy Antwerp on purpose.
Just like the Russians watched how Warsaw was butchered and destroyed by the Germans in the second world war.

So, the history of The Netherlands is far more complex than what you think.
It's also the reason why part of it want te be independent, the part now called Belgium.
 
All propaganda. There are good books about it. The Spanish had a hard time to even send an army into The Netherlands.
The Spanish got their soldiers from all over Europe. By the time they were approaching, the Holland Dutch had time and money enough to safe their own skin by hiring mostly German troops.

And the Hollanders even let the city of Antwerp be burnt and slaughtered by the Spanish troops. Why? Antwerp was the main rival harbor of Amsterdam.

The Holland Dutch let the Spanish destroy Antwerp on purpose.
Just like the Russians watched how Warsaw was butchered and destroyed by the Germans in the second world war.

So, the history of The Netherlands is far more complex than what you think.
It's also the reason why part of it want te be independent, the part now called Belgium.

I would allow that there were elements in Holland and Zeeland who were happy to see Antwerp be sacked and then decline, but hard to get there or not, the Spanish did have substantial armies there. They did not have much in the way of quality cavalry, but the Tercios were formidible infantry for their time. We should not forget the fact that towards the end of Alva's command, the soldiers went of strike, heavily impairing his ability to finish off the rebels.

Parma may well have been able to finish it if not for his incompetent King, who couldn't resist trying to fight Engalnd at the same time.

There were also religious differences in the areas of todays Netherlands and Belgium. Perhaps that fact contributed to the lack of cooperation.
 
I would allow that there were elements in Holland and Zeeland who were happy to see Antwerp be sacked and then decline, but hard to get there or not, the Spanish did have substantial armies there. They did not have much in the way of quality cavalry, but the Tercios were formidible infantry for their time. We should not forget the fact that towards the end of Alva's command, the soldiers went of strike, heavily impairing his ability to finish off the rebels.

Parma may well have been able to finish it if not for his incompetent King, who couldn't resist trying to fight Engalnd at the same time.

There were also religious differences in the areas of todays Netherlands and Belgium. Perhaps that fact contributed to the lack of cooperation.

You don't know the facts, as ever..
 
You don't know the facts, as ever..

You know, I actaully had the smallest glimmer of hope that we could have had a dialogue here that did not devolve into the usual.

I guess that it is my fault for dreaming.
 

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