Days Four and Five: Bruges, Belgium

Bruges is a UNESCO World heritage site.  There are over 600 buildings that are protected for their historic value.  Bruges is an old city.  It feels older than Amsterdam, perhaps because it ceased to be important as a city for trade when the port silted up, so it was left in somewhat of a medieval time-warp.  Bruges was one of the most important cities in Northern Europe during the high Middle Ages.  It was the first to become politically independent with its own charter. The city at its peak had a population of 35,000 people, which was large for a medieval European city.  Today the historic city is well preserved, with medieval and renaissance era architecture blending together.  The layout of the streets and the overall design are just the same as they were over 600 years ago.

The influence and wealth of the city’s historic merchant class is very present even in the modern city.  Many notable works of art were commissioned by the town’s merchants; in many cases these self-same men were worked into the art work, standing as witnesses to Christ’s birth or a similar theme of religious art.                        

 Bruges has many beautiful museums and churches, including one church that is a pilgrimage site for the Holy Blood of Jesus, which is still viewed as a holy relic today.  It was on view when I visited the Church of the Holy Blood.  

 The museums in Bruges highlighted the Flemish Renaissance artists, especially Jan Van Eyck and Hans Memling.  One of the most interesting museums is actually the former hospital of Saint John, which dates back to the medieval period and was run by nuns.  There is also a convent of Beguines, semi-nuns, which was very peaceful and beautiful in its simplicity.  Having come from Amsterdam, I am struck by the strong contrast of the Catholic culture in Bruges as compared to the Protestant reformation influence in Holland.  Here the only desecration to the local Catholic churches came from Napoleon Bonaparte and the French Revolution.  One of the oldest churches in Bruges, the Church of Saint Donatus, was sold off by the French during the Revolution and demolished.  Recently a hotel was built over the same site and in the process of building a new foundation the remains of the original city walls and church foundations were found, as well as a water well filled with medieval “trash”—a great archeological treasure trove of everyday life over time.

Days Two and Three: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

This is a holiday weekend in the Netherlands, so Amsterdam is crowded with Dutch folks, plus the weather is lovely—sunny and cool, so everyone wants to be outside.  I saw Amsterdam by boat, traveling up and down the canals in the old parts of the city.  Buildings range from the houses built in the 15^th century to modern architecture.  Amsterdam is a city that is rich in history but does not cling to the past—its forward thinking and progressive.  The spirit of entrepreneurship that began with the founding of the city led by merchants is still very much alive.   

            I also traveled to the Jewish History Museum, which is a museum dedicated to telling the story of the Dutch Jewish historical experience.  The museum connects four former synagogues from the old Jewish quarter.  Amsterdam was the home of Holland’s largest Jewish population.  In the 1930s there were 140,000 Jews living in the Netherlands; today there are 44,000.  The museum tells the story of the earliest Dutch Jews from their arrival in Amsterdam, after their expulsion from Catholic Spain and Portugal in 1492.  Later many Jews came to Holland from Eastern Europe to escape pogroms in Poland, Russia and Germany. Jews in Holland could practice their religion in peace and without fear or a ghetto, but they were limited in their occupations.  All of the trade guilds were closed to them, so Jews ended up working as merchants as either international traders, buying and investing in shares of overseas trading operations or for those with less money, they worked as street peddlers.  Some entered the diamond trade, since it was one of the few trades that developed after the medieval period, hence it did not have a restrictive medieval guild.  The elite of the community were well off, but the majority of Dutch Jews were poor due to the lack of economic opportunities.  This situation improved somewhat in the 19^th century, but even up until 1939, most Dutch Jews lived in poverty.  During the German Nazi occupation from May 1940 till April 1945, the majority of the Jewish population were deported and most died in German concentration camps.  After the war, when the survivors returned, the Dutch government and people did little to help them.  Not until 1973, did the government accept any responsibility for the welfare of the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust; the Dutch people were reluctant to deal with their role in cooperating with the Nazis.


Today many Dutch Jews still do not feel comfortable with being openly Jewish, since there is still latent anti-Semitism in Holland, despite the international image of the Dutch as being open and tolerant as a society.  For me this puts the emphasis on “tolerate” meaning “will allow” but not include or be made to feel welcome.  My grandmother’s family was Dutch and Jewish.  I was always taught to be proud of this heritage and believed that the Jews in Holland were treated better than the rest of Europe; now I have somewhat mixed feelings.  They were treated better, but even in “enlightened” Holland, they were not really accepted.  Visiting the Anne Frank House just underscores the precarious position that all European Jews faced, what it meant to be a minority and vulnerable to the whims of your neighbors, who may tolerate you for a time, but can turn their backs on you when you need them most.  Traveling in Europe as a Jew is hard. There are constant reminders of the recent past, making it difficult to reconcile the beautiful scenery and old world charm with the painful reality of the Shoah.  Although the Jewish History museum is an interesting museum, I could not help but feel saddened by all that was lost; somehow the museum, standing in these four repurposed but no longer holy sanctuaries represented a way of life and a community that is a shadow of what it once was.

Haarlem, The Netherlands

I visited Haarlem on a sunny day in June.  The town's history dates back to the 15^th century but the town grew more important in the 16^th century.  Saint Bavo's Cathedral (the main cathedral) shows the effect of the Reformation.  All the original Roman Catholic artwork and iconography was removed or painted over.


  The Cathedral also shows the influence of the town’s merchants.  An example of this was the “unruly dog” keepers’ chapel.  The chapel was built with the funds of the town merchants, not the local lords.

 I also went to the Teyler museum, which is the oldest museum in Holland.  The museum was also financed by a local merchant, showing the importance of the merchant class in the Netherlands.  

Getting ready to leave.

Tomorrow,  I will begin a trip to Normandy, France and the Low Countries--Belgium and the Netherlands.  These regions are rich in history.  Normandy was first made famous by William of Normandy, better known as William the Conqueror, but in more recent memory people remember it for the famed D-Day landings of June 6, 1941.  Belgium and the Netherlands each has its own rich history stretching back to the thriving commerce of medieval Europe and the establishment of the Dutch as a world power in the 17th century.  Everywhere I go, I plan to explore the rich interplay between past, present and future.  Can one hear the echo of footsteps over time?  Join me and find out.