Netherlands

We all know how proud the Dutch are of their height. Just barely pushing 5'0 tall, I spent a great deal of my time in the Netherlands looking up! Average to tall people probably wouldn't notice all the accomedations the Dutch have made for their taller than average population. Water fountains (when you can find them, which isn't often) are higher, and I've heard from male friends that urinals are set higher. In stores, clothing displays are set higher and groceries are stocked higher. In homes, pictures are hung higher on walls than is typical in the US, and cabinets are higher. I spent two years climbing up on my kitchen counters every time I wanted something from a cupboard! So, it's no real wonder that the Dutch like their buildings tall as well...

Groningen is a lovely city in the North of the Netherlands. The centerpiece of the downtown area is the Martini Tower. It stands 127 meters above the city center, and is a popular tourist attraction and navigation point for visitors and residents, and naturally, it has become the pride and joy of the area. The tower was constructed in the 15th century, and the designers had typical Dutch ambition... it was to be the tallest tower in the Netherlands.

Rather cockily, or so the story goes, Groningeners began assessing other towers in the Netherlands to see who the competition was. It turned out, the tower to beat was in Utrect. The Groningeners snuck into Utrect and measured the height of their tower by lowering a rope off the highest point and cutting it off at the bottom. Eagerly, Groningen began construction on the Martini Tower. It was, and still is, a VERY beautiful and impressive structure... sadly though, NOT the tallest very beautiful and impressive structure.

Apparently, Utrect, upon learning of Groningen's rather sneaky trick to one up them came up with an equally sneaky topper. In the middle of the night, Utrect sent some men into Groningen to simply cut a few feet off the rope used to measure the height of the Utrect tower. So, when Groningen touted, "We have the tallest tower", Utrect replied, "Check again."

Thus proving that if you want to build the highest tower in the Netherlands, you have to budget something for security.

I mentioned in an earlier blog how proud the Dutch are of their 'tall' reputation. However, there are a couple of cases where they are very proud of things from their country that are very SMALL. The first is the miniature city of Madurodam . A tourist attraction just outside of the Hague, Madurodam is a miniature village that contains everything quintessentially Netherlands. There's lots of little perfectly modeled buildings, tiny people, windmills and more. Almost every Dutch landmark building has been reproduced on a miniature scale... they even have Schiphol airport.

The other is the 'dubbelje' (double-cha), the Dutch equivalent of a dime. Unfortunately, since the euro, the dubbelje is no longer in circulation, but until that time, it held the honor of being the most diminuative coin in the world.

The Dutch can also lay claim to Phillips, one of the most successful electronics companies in the world, and the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. You heard me (pun intended), Beethoven was actually of Belgian/Dutch ancestry. The 'van' is Dutch, whereas German would be 'von'. Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, but the Dutch choose to honor him as one of their own.

The Phillips company created the CD and the DVD and they were 'creative' in more ways than one in doing so. When designing the CD, there was a debate over the size, so one of the engineers reached into his poacket and took out a 'dubbelje'. Inspiration struck, and now a dubbelje coin fits to the millimeter into the center of any CD or DVD. Also, a standard CD is 72 minutes long, precisely the length of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

Thus proving, there is a small out of circulation Dutch coin out there somewhere in the world that you can stick into the middle of a CD, and after that you can listen to Beethoven's 9th Symphony in it's entirety.