European Heritage Tour 4, August 28 - September 7, 2012

Holland and Belgium, 11 day Hotel Tour, English spoken.

This tour focuses on the Dutch and Belgium (Flemish) Mennonite history. We will visit beautiful Dutch cities like Amsterdam, Haarlem and Harlingen. We explore the lavish Flemish architecture in Bruges and Ghent. We will learn about the present Mennonite situation in Holland as we visit congregations in Aalsmeer and Ouddorp. This Tour is easy to combine with Tour 5.

Tour Price: 1595 euro

Single room supplement: 350 euro

Map: Click here for a map of the itinerary of this tour.

Registration: Click here for the online Registration Form.

Day 1, Tuesday August 28, 2012. Pick-up at Schiphol Amsterdam Airport and Zaanse Schans

Fly to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Pick-up time will be between 14 and 15.00 pm at Schiphol Amsterdam Airport. At Schiphol you will meet your Dutch tour guide and driver, Ayold Fanoy. Our first stop will be at the Zaanse Schans, one of Holland's top touristic destinations, with characteristic green wooden houses and historic windmills. Across the Zaanse Schans is the Honig-Breet house museum. This used to be the home of three generations of a wealthy Mennonite trading family. The interior of the museum gives a good reflection of the way they lived.

Day 2, Wednesday August 29, 2012. Haarlem and Corry ten Boom-house.

Haarlem is a town with a rich Mennonite history. The Mennonite Church keeps a vast archive of their past. The archivist will tell us interesting stories. The church building itself (hidden church, dating from 1683) reflects the distinction of the former members with 4 historical period rooms of the past. One of the most prominent and rich members of the Haarlem Mennonite congregation, Pieter Teyler van der Hulst (1702-1778, a linen trader), has erected his own museum. This museum is still one of Haarlem's leading museums and shows items of art and science. The magnificent interiors are as good as the displays. Haarlem is the city of Corry ten Boom. The house of her family, the Corry ten Boom House, functioned during WW II as a hiding place for hundreds of Jews. After the family was betrayed, Corrie was sent to Auschwitz Concentration Camp, but survived miraculously. The rest of her life she toured the world as an evangelist preaching peace.

Day 3, Thursday August 30, 2012. Amsterdam, Anne Frank House and Rijksmuseum

Amsterdam has so much to offer that we will spend here two days. This first day we tour the city by canal boat. It will bring us to the Anne Frank House and Rijksmuseum with its vast collection of Rembrandts on display, one of them his masterpiece The Nightwatch. Another treasure of Amsterdam, but far less known, is the Mennonite Archive, located at the Library of the Amsterdam University. The librarian will show us inter alia an original letter of Menno Simons, addressed to his brothers and sisters in Gdansk, Poland.

Day 4, Friday August 31, 2012. Cheese market and Friesland

Alkmaar is famous for its weekly 'Kaasmarkt' (Cheese market) in summertime. After visiting we will cross the 22-mile Afsluitdijk (Closing dam) to arrive in Friesland, the home-country of Menno Simons. Visits of the hidden Mennonite Church in Pingjum and the Menno Simons monument in Witmarsum. In Pingjum Menno started his career as a Catholic priest. After being promoted to the adjacent (larger) village of Witmarsum he got serious doubts about his Catholic faith and decided to leave the Catholic church. Lodging in Harlingen.

Day 5, Saturday September 1, 2012. Harlingen and Franeker

A guided Mennonite walking tour through Harlingen. Hear about the long history of the Mennonite congregations of 'Waterlanders' and 'Flemish' in Harlingen. Lunch in Franeker, next to the Planetarium of Eise Eisinga. In 1781 Eise Eisinga was the first man to build a full moving model of our solar system, still working and accurate today. We will visit his Planetarium to see how it works. At the ceramic factory of Royal Tichelaar Makkum we will learn about the making of traditional and contemporary styles of ceramic art work. Visit of the Makkum Mennonite Church, known as the 'little castle'.

Day 6, Sunday September 2, 2012. Amsterdam and Singelchurch

Amsterdam Singelchurch Today, we return to Amsterdam to attend the worship service at the Amsterdam Mennonite Singelchurch (anno 1608). After lunch we will make a walking tour through the city centre to explore the buildings and sites of Mennonite interest and hear the accompanying story's. On our walking tour we visit the Royal Palace at the Dam, the former town hall of Amsterdam, built in the glorious years of the Dutch Golden Age (17th century). The Palace is the site where the crowning of the Dutch kings and queens takes place.

Day 7, Monday September 3, 2012. Aalsmeer Flower Auction

Aalsmeer is the home of the world's biggest flower auction. We will wake up early this morning to see the auction in full operation. A local Mennonite flower trader will guide us around. Another feature of Aalsmeer is the historical garden. Aalsmeer has a thriving Mennonite congregation. We will visit their church and talk with the female pastor.

Day 8, Tuesday September 4, 2012. Dirk Willems and Ouddorp

Today we leave The Netherlands to head for Belgium. But before we cross the border we go to the small village of Asperen on search of traces of the pond where Dirk Willems in 1569 rescued his persecutor. By doing this, Dirk Willems became the international symbol of Mennonite brotherly love. Asperen regards Dirk as one of its local hero's and named a street in his honor. If time permits we have a short stop in Dordrecht and hear the story of the 1632 Dordrecht Confession of Faith which influenced Mennonite and Amish Congregations until the present day. Our next destination is the Mennonite Congregation of Ouddorp. As one of the few Mennonite congregations in The Netherlands, this evangelical congregation managed to grow in large numbers in the last two decades. We will visit their newly built church and meet their pastor. On our way to Bruges we cross the Dutch province of Zeeland. This is a countryside of water, polders and dykes. In 1953 a flood destroyed 3000 human lives and 800 kilometer of dykes, leaving 500.000 people homeless. After this, the Delta Project was started, an enormous engineering construction program to ensure the safety of the polder lands.

Day 9, Wednesday September 5, 2012. Bruges

Bruges medieval prosperity came from trading and manufacturing textiles from high-quality English wool. This prosperity is reflected in the lavishly architecture and has been well kept in picturesque cobbled lanes, exceptionally photogenic market squares lined with soaring towers and old churches, making it a fairy-tale town. We will spend all day in this town to enjoy Bruges grander and architecture at the max. In the 16th century thousands of Mennonites were living here in Flanders. As the persecution became too intensive they all fled to the Netherlands and further on to Gdansk in Poland, bringing their art, linen manufacturing and architectural crafts with them. As a result of this persecution, no Mennonites are to be found anymore in Flanders in present days. In the Martyrs Mirror more than 400 stories are listed of Flemish martyrs.

Day 10, Thursday September 6, 2012. Ghent and Antwerp

Ghent and Antwerp are two other Flemish cities with a prosperous wool trade with England in earlier days. In Ghent we will visit the Gravensteen, the castle of the counts of Flanders. More than 150 Mennonite martyrs were imprisoned and executed here. The first martyr was Willem Mulaer, beheaded in 1535. We hear his and other heart braking stories from the Martyrs Mirror. Then it's on to Antwerp, Belgium's second largest city and biggest port. In the 16th century it had been one of Europe's most important cities and home to the baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens. We visit the 13th-century Steen Castle, next to the river Schelde, another prison for Mennonites in the 16th century.

Day 11, Friday September 7, 2012. Departure home from Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam

Fly home from Schiphol, Amsterdam International Airport. Drop-off time at 10.30 am.

Tour Price includes:

10 nights accommodation.
All breakfasts and dinners.
Entrance fees to all places mentioned in the itinerary.
Modern, comfortable transportation.

Not included:

International Flights to and from Amsterdam.
Noon lunches, beverages with included dinners.
Trip cancellation and holiday medical insurance.

Deposit and Payments: Your reservation will be confirmed upon receipt of a deposit of 250 euro. The remaining 1345 euro is due before June 8, 2012.

In the event of a marked change in foreign exchange rates, fuel costs or tariff rates, Mennonite Heritage Tours does reserve the right to adjust prices should it become necessary. The published price is guaranteed from the moment you have paid the full tour price.

European Heritage Tour 4, August 28 - September 7, 2012

Holland and Belgium, 11 day Hotel Tour, English spoken.

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